Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy has established a new base in the city of Sirik on the banks of the Persian Gulf, in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Israel Defense website.
The “Martyr Seyed Majid Rahbar” base, located near the entrance to the Strait, enables IRGC naval forces to exert better control over the Gulf, in addition to carrying out operations against US forces in the area and facilitating faster closure of the strait.
IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami attended the opening ceremony at the new base. “This base has been built with the purpose of total dominance over the entry and exit of extraterritorial aircraft and naval vessels” at the entrance to the Gulf, Salami said. “This location is one of the country’s most strategic defensive points,” he added, according to Arab News, quoting from Iranian state TV’s website.
The waterway has been used by Iran more than once to harass oil tankers belonging to Western nations that travel through the Strait on their way to various destinations.
More than 21 barrels of crude oil — approximately 25 percent of the global oil supply — are transported through the Strait of Hormuz each day by various international vessels.
