Iranian military highlights air defences around Gulf energy hubs

The Iranian military has provided a look at the air defences it has deployed on Kharg Island and at Asaluyeh: two of the most important sites in the Islamic republic’s oil and gas export network.

Maj Gen Mousavi inspects a launcher for Sayyad-2/3 missiles. (defapress.ir)

Iranian news agency photographs and television coverage on 8 October showed Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, the commander of the regular armed forces, visiting the two locations and inspecting air defence systems that included a Tor M1, at least one Mersad (Hawk), and a Tabas.

The surveillance radars seen included a Matla-ul-fajr low frequency system designed to detect stealth aircraft.

Possibly most significantly, at least one launcher for Sayyed-2 or Sayyad-3 surface-to-air missiles was seen deployed, probably at Asaluyeh. The missiles have claimed ranges of 75 km and 120 km, respectively. They have been identified as missiles that can be used with both the Talash and Khordad 15 air defence systems.

A Sayyad-2 may have been responsible for downing a US Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk over the Gulf of Oman on 20 June. The Iranian military has credited a 3 Khordad system, a more advanced version of the Tabas that can use the Sayyad-2, with the shootdown.

The highly mobile Tabas system appears to be stored in a building so that it can be rapidly deployed when required. (defapress.ir)

Maj Gen Mousavi also formally opened what the Iranian media described as the “Persian Gulf Air Defence Headquarters” and reportedly controls assets operated by both the dedicated air defence force and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).