US Navy
In April 1988, the US attacked Iran in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for the mining of a US ship.
Operation Praying Mantis, the largest US naval action since World War II, was brief but deadly.
Thirty-three years later, the weapons each side would use have only gotten more destructive.
Just before 8:00 a.m. on April 18, 1988, members of Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) stationed on the Sassan and Sirri oil platforms in the Persian Gulf received a warning from US Navy ships several thousand yards away. You have five minutes to abandon the platform. I intend to destroy it at 0800, the warning said.
US Navy
Iranian frigate IS Sahan after being hit with three Harpoon missiles and cluster bombs by aircraft from USS Enterprise, April 19, 1988.
In April 1988, the US attacked Iran in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for the mining of a US ship.
Operation Praying Mantis, the largest US naval action since World War II, was brief but deadly.
Thirty-three years later, the weapons each side would use have only gotten more destructive.
Just before 8:00 a.m. on April 18, 1988, members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) stationed on the Sassan and Sirri oil platforms in the Persian Gulf received a warning from US Navy ships several thousand yards away.
Forever War: The U.S. and Iran Have Been At It For Decades (Unofficially)
Although the U.S. and Iran have never officially be at war, that doesn t mean things never came to blows.
Here s What You Need To Remember: The Carter Doctrine declared that the United States would use force to defend its interests in the Persian Gulf. The Iranian Revolution created a Persian Gulf state whose objectives were decidedly antithetical to American interests. It didn t take long for the tension to come to a head.
The orders from the Joint Chiefs of Staff were clear: the Iranian frigate
When Iran and Iraq Fought, Tehran Totally Decimated Saddam’s Navy
On September 22, 1980 Saddam Hussein launched Iraq into a full-scale invasion of Iran hoping to capitalize on Iran’s instability due to the Iranian Revolution.
Here s What You Need to Remember: Eight years later, the Iranian Navy itself saw much of its own combat strength destroyed by the U.S. Navy’s Operation Praying Mantis which ironically mirrored Operation Morvarid in several striking respects.
On September 22, 1980 Saddam Hussein launched Iraq into a full-scale invasion of Iran hoping to capitalize on Iran’s instability due to the Iranian Revolution.
Khorramshahr and Abadan, two major Iranian port cities just across and downstream the Shatt-al-Arab river from the major Iraqi oil-exporting port of Basra, were priority targets. The Shatt-al-Arab ran into the Persian Gulf and its lucrative oil shipping lanes.