The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday carried out its first strike in the Caspian Sea, hitting several Iranian navy vessels in a major expansion of the geographic scope of its campaign against the Islamic Republic.
Iranian opposition media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Anzali, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) from Tehran. The city is home to one of Iran’s naval headquarters, which was also reportedly struck in the attack. Axios reported that the strike targeted “more than five vessels.”
Israeli Air Force strikes the Iranian navy in the Caspian Sea
The IDF said it had carried out strikes in northern Iran, but did not explicitly say the attack targeted Iranian navy vessels there. “Israeli Air Force, acting on navy and IDF intelligence, began striking targets in northern Iran for the first time during Operation Roaring Lion,” the military said in a statement. “Details to follow.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “significant surprises are expected across all arenas during the day, and they will escalate the war we are waging against Iran and Hezbollah.” A report on the strike was to be presented to Cabinet ministers later in the evening.
The area hit is about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from Israel. The strike represents a severe setback for Iran’s navy, which had already sustained major losses from U.S. military action during the fighting. President Donald Trump has said several times since the war began that Iran’s navy had, in effect, been destroyed.
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Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy commanders during the strikes in northern Iran
(Photo: IDF)
The Caspian Sea is bordered by Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, all former Soviet republics. According to a 2017 U.S. Navy report, Bandar Anzali is home to the headquarters of the Iranian navy’s Northern Fleet district, which is responsible for the Caspian Sea.
Last July, weeks after the end of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, the naval arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard held a joint military exercise with Russia’s navy in the Caspian Sea. According to a Revolutionary Guard statement, the drill with Moscow was intended to “raise the level of safety in the Caspian region and strengthen cooperation between the naval forces of Russia and Iran.”
Over the past year, the Caspian Sea has seen clashes between Russia and Ukraine. In December, Ukraine’s SBU security service said it had used drones to strike two Russian oil drilling platforms in the Caspian. The Ukrainian agency identified the platforms as the Filanovsky and Korchagin rigs, which belong to the Russian oil giant Lukoil.