The Iranian Revolutionary Guard shot up a dummy US aircraft carrier as target practice in the Strait of Hormuz. They fired missiles that were launched from a helicopter at the mock carrier on Tuesday.
The fake carrier was towed by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the firing area that is used for training in war games and military drills. It is indicative of the tensions between Tehran and Washington, according to US Today.
US aware of the unprovoked attack
The simulated attack was shown on Iranian State TV is part of the Great Prophet 14 exercise conducted by Iranian forces. Commandoes disembarked from a helicopter on the Nimitz class carrier replica, which is the type of carrier deployed by the US in the Persian Gulf. Around the fake carrier, the other ships are circling the larger vessel.
Commander Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said in an email that the navy was aware of the Iranian exercise that was an attack on still carrier dummy, according to Reuters.
She added that the exercise had no significant impact on the operations of the coalition, or the commercial activity in the Hormuz Strait and its waters.
But the Al Udeid Air Base and Al Dhafra Air Base military bases in the United Arab Emirates were on red alert against the threat of missile attacks in the equipment and personnel. The missiles were in the Southern Arabian Gulf, which is part of the military activity.
Capt. Bill Urban of the Central Command, said that safe practices and resilience of all the members of the coalition is the main concern. The United States considers the missiles fired as wayward and irresponsible. Especially close to areas that are frequented by ships in the gulf.
Not the first incident
In 2015, Iran did a similar activity, that the Iranian Navy sank a dummy US carrier. The Strait of Hormuz is where 20% of the crude oil passes through, a choke point in the Persian Gulf.
Since 2018, Iran and the US have been at odds with increasing tensions too. It was President Donald Trump who pulled back the US from the 2015 nuke deal that include six of the nuclear capable countries. Sanctions were levied on Tehran that lessen oil exports and affected Iran's economy, according to New York Times.
Last year, President Trump put the blame on terroristic attacks on oil tankers. Recently, both nations were at the edge with the murder of a top Iranian general with drone strike last January in Baghdad. Iran got back with ballistic missiles that targeted U.S and coalition forces in Iraq.
Coronavirus concerns have kept the U.S. and Iran from each other for month, but the tension resumed with an extension with a United Nations arms sale restriction. The embargo will end in October 2020 that increases chances of confrontation.
Iran was angered by an American fighter plane (F-15) that checked out a commercial airliner that was flying over Syria. State media of Iran said that the U.S. Jet fighter flew dangerously that bothered the passengers inside. The Pentagon stated that it was not flying prescribed for commercial flight path.
Iranian have been hit by unknown accidents that has caused serious accidents at facilities that are important to them. Reasons given were mistakes by personnel, sabotage and other factors like intentional hacking as well.
Related article: Trump Orders Navy to Destroy Iranian Vessels Which Threatens US, Iran Says They'll Crush Them
