On Monday, Iran’s naval forces enhanced their capabilities in the Caspian Sea by introducing a new destroyer equipped to launch cruise missiles, as reported by state media.
The newly commissioned Deilaman destroyer, weighing 1,400 tons and named after a northern Iranian town, measures 312 feet in length and 36 feet in width. According to the state-run IRNA news agency, this vessel has the capacity to deploy torpedoes at a speed of 30 knots, equivalent to about 35 miles per hour.
The Deilaman boasts advanced detection capabilities, able to simultaneously identify over 100 different targets such as ships, drones, helicopters, submarines, and aircraft.
At the vessel’s inauguration ceremony, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, the head of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, described the Caspian Sea as a zone of peace and friendship. He emphasized that Iran’s naval presence in the area is intended to promote peace, safeguard commercial fleets, counter terrorism, and prepare for potential future incidents.
The addition of the Deilaman marks the sixth warship Iran has introduced to its Caspian Sea fleet. This sea, the world’s largest enclosed inland water body, is bordered by Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.
In recent years, Iranian warships have occasionally visited Russian and Azerbaijani naval bases in the Caspian Sea. Despite these interactions, Iran has expressed concerns over Azerbaijan’s close military relationship with Israel, whom Iran considers a significant adversary.
Russia maintains the most formidable naval force in the Caspian, but Iran has been actively striving to establish and augment its naval presence in the region since the late 1960s, with more substantial efforts seen since the 1990s. Iran also operates three naval bases along the Caspian Sea’s coastline.
