The Sad Saga of the Iranian Navy, Part III: The Demise of Iran’s Navy after the 1979 Islamic Revolution

The Persian month of Azar, or November-December in the Gregorian calendar, is the official month of the Iranian navy. Before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Iranian navy’s national day fell on November 29, marking the reclamation of three islands, Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, from British forces in 1971.

After the Islamic Republic came to power the national day was shifted to November 27, to commemorate the missile boat Peykan, which was sunk while resisting an Iraqi naval and air attack in 1980.

In a series of three articles we will explore the establishment and changing fortunes of Iran’s modern navy, from the damage it sustained during World War II to the emergence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a naval power and the struggle to build a fleet of submarines. The second article in the series focuses on the Revolutionary Guards Navy, which has come up against the US Navy several times over the decades.

This article, the third in the series, assesses the performance of the Iranian Navy before the revolution and the steps taken to establish a submarine fleet, which was never implemented because the revolution intervened and disrupted the process. 

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When the revolution began in Iran, the country’s navy was at the peak of its capabilities, and it was the best navy in the region. The 10 years leading up to the 1979 revolution are years of honor for the Iranian Navy.

The operation to retake the three islands of Abu Musa, Tonb-e Bozorg, Tonb-e Kuchak, and Farsi in the Persian Gulf, which had been run by the Sheikhdom of Sharjah and later became part of the United Arab Emirates, was successful. In the course of the Dhofar war in Oman – the Iranian Navy’s first and last international war – the Iranian Navy, with the help of the British army, successfully  defeated separatists in Oman and restored the reign of Sultan Qaboos in that country.

Prior to the border agreement with Iraq that ended the territorial and waterways dispute, Iraq claimed full ownership of the Arvand River, also known as the Shatt al-Arab. In spring 1969, when Iraq banned Iran from access to the river and threatened to target any Iranian ship that tried to use it, an Iranian Navy fleet crossed the 90-kilometer-long river border between the two countries and defended Iran's sovereignty over the river.

Eleven days before the announcement of the establishment of the United Arab Emirates on November 27, 1971, the United Kingdom, which was a protectorate of the area, known as the Trucial States, before the emirates became a country, signed an agreement with Iran to restore Iranian sovereignty over Abu Musa. Three days later, the Iranian Navy occupied the island after 70 years. Afterward, for a period of eight years before the revolution, Iranians celebrated Navy Day on that date.

The brother of the ruler of Sharjah transferred  the sovereignty of Abu Musa island to Iran. Prior to this, thinking the force might be needed to regain Iran's sovereignty, the Iranian Navy planned to deploy troops to Abu Musa. The plan was drawn up by Admiral Kamal Habibollahi, the Chief of Staff of the navy.

When it became clear that Iran and Britain could reach a peaceful agreement about the transfer, plans to use force were abandoned. However, the navy remained stationed on Abu Musa, Tonb-e Bozorg, and Tonb-e Kuchak Islands. Before positioning itself on the three islands, the Iranian Navy had carried out exercises in the mountains around Bandar Abbas, which had a similar terrain and environment to that of the islands.

The transfer took place at 6:00 AM on November 29. Several naval ships, including hovercrafts and helicopters, deployed Iranian marines on the islands. In his memoir, Kamal Habibollahi wrote that Iranian helicopters dropped leaflets simultaneously as Iranian forces landed so armed forces would surrender on the islands and clashes could be prevented. "They could not do anything against a superior military force,” he wrote. “A number of Ras al-Khaimah police forces defended the Tonb-e Bozorg. Our soldiers started to advance and unfortunately they were careless; their officer was at fault. They had put their guns on their shoulders and walked toward the police station."

According to the ousted Admiral Abbas Ramzi Ataei, who had been the commander of the navy for some time and was in charge of the main command during the recapture of the islands, three Iranian soldiers were shot dead in Tonb-e Bozorg. The transfer of sovereignty on the other two islands was slow. However, the Sharjah ruler's brother welcomed the Iranian forces in Abu Musa, and the Iranian flag was raised on all three islands after seven decades.

In June 1972, a few months after the Iranian Navy reclaimed its sovereignty over the three islands in accordance with the agreement, Sultan Qaboos, the King of Oman, sent a message to Mohammad Reza Shah in Tehran via his special envoy, seeking military help to liberate the Dhofar province from the control of pro-Soviet rebels. The Dhofar rebels, who were in contact with and supported by the South Yemeni communists, were advancing and attempting to occupy southern Oman. Not only was the reign of Sultan Qaboos under threat, but so was the territorial integrity of Oman, which controlled both sides of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Shah of Iran replied, stating that "trouble in the Strait of Hormuz would put an end to our lives.” After making the necessary preparations, on the first anniversary of Iranian renewed rule over the three islands and five months after the request of Sultan Qaboos, battalions from the 77th Khorasan Division left for Oman. While only Salalah and Muscat in Oman remained under the control of Sultan Qaboos, the Iranian army's operation quickly achieved results. As the war moved in to the southern areas, the Iranian army's ground artillery became less maneuverable because of the mountainous region. Air force planes also had very little operational power. With the arrival of the Iranian Navy, the impasse seemed to be broken.

Admiral Kamal Habibollahi says he personally visited the region and on his return prepared a naval operation in Dhofar. With the deployment of the navy on the sea and the support of the land and air forces, the joint operation of the Iranian and British armies against the Dhofar rebels was successful.

With this operation, Iranian and British forces were able to advance quickly to the mountains near southern Yemen and retake the lands from what they regarded as the insurgents. The war lasted three years, but eventually it secured Sultan Qaboos’ reign and kept Oman intact. "It would not have been possible to achieve this victory if the navy had not been present in that area," said the commander of the Iranian army's ground forces in Oman.

 

The Establishment of Iran’s Submarine Force

After the Dhofar clash, Kamal Habibaollahi, the commander of Iran's naval operations in battle, became overall commander of the navy. He took steps to establish Iran’s submarine force,  spending hours in Bandar Abbas discussing the force with Admiral Otto Kretschmer, a senior German submarine officer during World War II. Three submarines were ordered from the United States and one from Germany. "Argentina had one of these submarines; it fell into the hands of Britain during the Falklands War and became part of the British fleet."

Iran's initial decision was to purchase 24 submarines. It wanted to use US Harpoon missiles, which are designed to target ships, on its submarines. It tested the launch of this missile in the Indian Ocean with satisfactory results. With the successful installation and firing of the Harpoon missiles, the Iranian Navy entered into negotiations with Israel to jointly build them.

Sirjan in southern Iran was selected as the location for the factory where the missiles would be constructed. It was established before the revolution but never reached the operational stage. After the revolution, the factory became the subject of a legal dispute between Iran and Israel, one of many that emerged in this period.

The American Harpoon to be built in Sirjan was intended for dual use. It would be installed on a submarine, and the range of the missiles would be increased from 60 miles to 300 miles; Israel planned to make them available for its navy too. According to Commander Habibaollahi, the torpedo could be used on nuclear submarines. In the second half of 1978, the United States delivered the first submarine Iran had ordered. Habibaollahi was quoted as saying it was the best day of his life: "I knew no one would give us a submarine anymore. Submarines are an offensive weapon and are not given to countries that have the potential."

Each submarine ordered for Iran was worth about 50 million dollars in the late 1970s. In an interview with Harvard Oral History, Kamal Habibaollahi said the force was a low-cost strategic deterrent that would help Iran extend into the Black Sea.

With the outbreak of the revolution in February 1979, it took only a few months to establish the Iranian submarine force, a situation that Habibaollahi could not have dreamed would emerge. But then Islamic Revolution officials canceled the order to purchase submarines. According to Admiral Habibollah, Admiral Ahmad Madani, the first Minister of Defense of the Islamic Republic, terminated the submarine contracts with the United States, and Sadegh Tabatabai, a close associate of Ayatollah Khomeini, who had ties in Germany, terminated the submarine purchase agreement there. Habibollah stated that Iran had asked to buy tractors from Germany instead of submarines.

The United States had delivered a submarine, named Shark or Kuseh, to Iran, and although it had not entered Iranian waters, it was in the hands of Iranian forces. Just as the revolution was underway, the submarine’s crew was called to Iran in February 1979. The Shark submarine remained in the United States, served in the US Navy and was eventually scrapped in 2009.

Currently, the largest vessel owned by the Revolutionary Guards Navy is a merchant ship that has been converted to military use. The Iranian Navy is better equipped, although it suffered heavy losses during the eight-year war with Iraq and the conflict with the United States in the Persian Gulf. The force now owns three Kilo-class submarines, the Tariq, Noah, and Younes, which it bought from Russia.

These submarines have electronic diesel engines and have served in the Soviet (now Russian) Navy since 1979; two of them were handed over to the Islamic Republic 11 years later for $750 million. In the years following, Russia refused to repair the submarines due to sanctions against Iran, and Iran was forced to repair them independently. Iran’s navy also has light submarines, some of which are known as wet submarines. The body of these vessels is underwater, but the crew using them remain on the surface and out of the water.

In 2020, the navy force of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the construction of a heavy submarine, which according to the announced estimates is scheduled to enter the fleet by 2033. In other words, if everything goes according to plan, Iran's first heavy submarine, more than 50 years after the submarine force was to be established, may join the navy of the Islamic Republic Army.

 

 

Read the other articles in the series: 

The Sad Saga of the Iranian Navy, Part I: The Anglo-Soviet Invasion

The Sad Saga of the Iranian Navy, Part II: How Effective is the Revolutionary Guards Navy?