(Asien) Irans Marine

[Shahab3]

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Iran starts naval exercises in Persian Gulf

LONDON, Nov 28 (IranMania) - According to Iran's state television, Iran's navy started a five-day exercise in the Persian Gulf, called Pearl, in commemoration of a naval crew killed during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Warships, logistics units and helicopters are taking part in the manoeuvres, the television quoted Rear Admiral Abbas Mohtaj as saying.
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Das Manöver ist der Operation Morvarid gewidmet. Bei der an einem Tag 80% der irakischen Marine versenkt wurde. Dabei hatte der Iran damals die Peykan und eine Phantom verloren.

historischer Hintergrund :

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During the night hours of the 29 November 1980, at least six ships of the Islamic Revolutionary Iran Navy's (IRINA) Task Force 421 landed a party of Marine Commandos on the Iraqi oil terminals at Mina al Bakr and Khor-al-Amaya. The swift operation, supported by AH-1J Sea Cobras, AB.214 Isfahans and CH-47C Chinooks of the IRIAA, took the enemy completely by surprise. During the short gun fight, most defenders were gunned down. After that, the Marines placed a large number of bombs and mines before being evacuated by helicopters.
A series of fierce explosions shattered the air, as further Iraqi oil installations - and very important early warning bases - were going up in flames.

At the same time, two Iranian missile boats of the Combattante II class, Peykan and Joshan, blocked the entrance into the ports of Al Faw and Umm Qasr and shelled both facilities, where meanwhile over 60 foreign ships were blocked.
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The Iraqi Navy was compelled to react, and in the morning, two groups of her P183 (NATO Code P-6) motor-torpedo boats, and five P205/205A (NATO Code Osa I/II) fast-attack crafts started a counterattack. Both Iranian and Iraqi ships exchanged intensive missile fire, with Iranian BGM-86 Harpoon missiles scoring several hits and sinking two Osas. After a while, however, Peykan was attacked by three further Osa II boats and the crew called the IRIAF for help. Immediately, two Phantoms, both armed with six AGM-65A Maverick air-to-ground missiles, were scrambled from Bushehr and send to the north. However, they couldn't reach the scene of the naval battle before Peykan succumbed to the hits of two SS-N-2 Styx surface-to-surface missiles. Outraged, two Phantoms crews opened fire at every Iraqi ship that could be found: three Iraqi Osa IIs as well as four P-6s could be sunk in less than five minutes! One of them got three Maverick-hits and exploded in a brillinat fireball. Couple of minutes later, four F-4Ds from Shiraz bombed the port of Al Faw and adjacent depots and magazines with laser-guided bombs, while surrounding Iraqi SAM-sites were hit by F-4Es and F-5Es. The Iraqis, already shattered by the massive destruction of their facilities and heavy losses, claimed one Phantom as shot down by SAMs, but the damaged plane managed to land at Bandar Musharaf.
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