Daily Times

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced it plans to establish a permanent military base in the Indian Ocean by next March.

The Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has tasked the IRGC with setting up a permanent presence in waters far away from the country, IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said yesterday.

Referring to repeated harassment by pirates and some foreign vessels for Iranian fishermen in the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean, he added: “The IRGC will no longer allow such encroachments in the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Oman.” The IRGC Navy has so far dispatched two naval flotillas to the Indian Ocean.

The IRGC commander said that “pirates and some foreign vessels had, in the past, created disturbances for the Iranian trawlers and dhows in the country’s southern waters.”

“Through its powerful presence in the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean, the IRGC will no longer leave any room for such acts of infringement,” he added.

“All requirements have been considered and the matter is being planned,” Tangsiri said, adding that Iran’s “presence will be strong and firm to improve security at the entrance to the Indian Ocean.”

Iran’s focus on the Indian Ocean comes within the context of its relentless pursuit to expand its growing influence in some regions and countries bordering the strategic pivot for sea trading.

Through its foreign military arm, the IRGC, Tehran has been seeking to play a role that exceeds its geopolitical reach in recent years. To make this possible, Iran has deployed small forces in international territorial waters, especially off the economic areas of the Arab Gulf states.

Through the announcement of the new permanent base, Iran seems to be hoping to exert further pressure on Washington and its regional allies in response to the US sanctions and the Caesar Law that has come into effect this month.

Iran is also looking for an escalation at a time when Arab Gulf countries have been working to find alternative routes to export their oil to the rest of the world while circumventing the ongoing Iranian threat in the Arabian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Last week, Iran test fired cruise missiles in a naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean, according to state media reports.