IRGC identifies ballistic missiles used against US warships

A Kheibar Shekan in the parade held in Tehran on 22 September 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced on 9 September that it had attacked two US Navy destroyers with Kheibar Shekan ballistic missiles.

It identified the destroyers as DDG-119 and DDG-53, the pennants for USS Delbert D Black and USS John Paul Jones, and released a video that showed at least three ballistic missiles that were identified by a caption as Kheibar Shekans being launched, purportedly at the destroyers. The IRGC did not claim the ships were hit.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced later on 9 September that the IRGC had claimed it had hit two US destroyers. “No US Navy warship has been struck; all IRGC attempted attacks failed,” it said.

It contrasted the IRGC's failure to hit its ships with its own targeting, saying it had “destroyed” 10 Iranian tankers in the last week.

CENTCOM earlier released targeting footage that it said showed five Iranian tankers being destroyed. The footage showed only the one it identified as Riesco sinking, while the other four appeared to be disabled by munitions fired into their engine rooms.

CENTCOM presented the attacks on Iranian tankers as retaliation for the IRGC's attempts to target a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the previous two days. “The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters,” it said.

The exchange of fire closely followed events earlier in the month. CENTCOM announced on 5 September that a US aircraft carrier and a destroyer had successfully evaded multiple IRGC ballistic missile attacks. In response, the US military destroyed one Iranian tanker and disabled two more.