The country’s military has phenomenally bolstered its naval combat power by building a large number of ‘Ghadir’ midget submarines and demonstrating its rapid progress in indigenous submarine technology.
Ghadir-class submarines, which officially joined Iran’s Navy fleet in November 2018, are capable of launching subsurface-to-surface missiles, torpedoes and mines at enemy targets.
Unlike surface vessels, submarines are hard to track, which give them strategic advantage. They are also more difficult to manufacture and repair than surface ships, but Iran has shown that it can.
This capability to produce, reverse engineer and obtain small and large submarines is testament to Iran’s rapidly expanding military industrial base, which has successfully neutralized the impact of sanctions.
According to leading military experts, Iran’s domestically-produced submarines today possess the same technological prowess as those produced in the West and purchased by major Persian Gulf countries.
First-of-its-kind submarines
Ghadir is the first-of-its-kind class of midget submarines built by the Islamic Republic of Iran and designed specifically to cruise within the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf.
Iran has the distinction of being the only country in the region to excel in this feat by acquiring a large fleet of Ghadir-class submarines that are capable of firing torpedoes from two tubes, release minesweepers, launch missiles, and transport commandos.
Rouhani: Iran, Turkey, great powers in region and Islamic world
