Iran deployed a new type of anti-ship missile fitted with an electro-optical seeker to attack US warships for the first time last night, in a major escalation by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its warfare against US forces operating in the vicinity of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Tensions have escalated after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a wave of overnight attacks against US forces stationed at a base in Jordan and targeting 10 American ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The new anti-ship missile featured in the attacks has been equipped with the new seeker head, according to a report by The Telegraph.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that all attempts by the IRGC to attack U.S. ships and the Jordanian base were repelled.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei announced that Iran has begun to use a "special anti-destroyer" missile in its exchange with the U.S. Rezaei described the shift as a move from "reactive deterrence" to "active deterrence."
The Iranian missile unveiled by the IRGC last year is called the Qassem Bassir medium-range ballistic missile, which Iran claims to use for precision strikes even without GPS. Whether or not the Qassem Bassir was the system used against the American warships was not specified by CENTCOM.
The IRGC also threatened to attack oil tankers and military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, ordering crews of vessels at port to evacuate.
Iran's Foreign Ministry called the attacks "legitimate defense" against the US destruction of Iranian oil assets, with the IRGC warning of further strikes against tankers and military facilities.
Crude oil prices rose above $100 per barrel in the wake of Iran's attacks — a level reached early in the conflict. Approximately 20 percent of global oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM has not released details on what countermeasures were employed against the IRGC's new electro-optical anti-ship missiles, citing operational security. Unlike radar-guided or GPS-homing systems, electro-optical seekers use cameras and light sensors to track moving surface targets — a guidance method specifically engineered to defeat conventional electronic warfare countermeasures. The fact that all attacks were repelled suggests U.S. forces employed effective defensive measures against the new threat profile.
