IRIS Shahid Nazeri
{{Short description|Iranian naval vessel}}
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| display title = IRIS Shahid Nazeri }} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = File:ناو_شهید_ناظری.jpg | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Iran | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Iran|naval}} | Ship name = Shahid Nazeri | Ship namesake = Mohammad Nazeri | Ship owner = | Ship operator = Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps | Ship ordered = | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = Shahid Mahallati Shipyard, Bushehr | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship sponsor = | Ship christened = | Ship completed = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = 13 September 2016 | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = Bandar Abbas, Iran | Ship identification = *Code letters: EQNA
| Ship motto = | Ship nickname = | Ship honours = | Ship honors = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = | Ship status = In active service | Ship notes = | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship displacement = ~800 tonnes | Ship length = {{convert|55.0|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|14.1|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = | Ship power = Diesel engine | Ship propulsion = 2 × Shafts | Ship speed = {{convert|28|kn|km/h}} | Ship range = {{convert|5,400|nmi|km|abbr=on}} | Ship endurance = | Ship test depth = | Ship complement = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = | Ship armour = | Ship aircraft = 1 × helicopter | Ship notes = }} |
Shahid Nazeri ({{langx|fa|شهید ناظری}}) is a high-aspect-ratio twin-hull vessel operated by the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran.
Name
The vessel is named after Mohammad Nazeri, the first commander of the IRGCN marines. It has been referred to as support ship HARTH 55 by the American military intelligence agencies.{{citation|title=Iranian Naval Forces: A Tale of Two Navies|url=https://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/iran/Iran%20022217SP.pdf|publisher=Office of Naval Intelligence|date=February 2017|isbn=978-0160939686|page=34}}
Description
The vessel is {{convert|55|m|ftin}} long with a claimed long-range support capability of {{convert|5400|nmi|lk=in}}. With a super-slender aluminum hull,{{citation|first=Farzin|last=Nadimi|title=Iran Signals a Toughened Stance by Adding to Its Naval Arsenal|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/iran-signals-a-toughened-stance-by-adding-to-its-naval-arsenal|type=PolicyWatch|number=3335|date=18 June 2020|access-date=15 July 2020|work=The Washington Institute for Near East Policy}} she is capable of carrying some 100 troops and has also a helipad for one aircraft. Shahid Nazeri{{'}}s speed is reportedly {{convert|28|kn|lk=in}}.
File:شهيد محمد ناظري - مراسم الحاق شناور شهید ناظری به ناوگان دریایی - بوشهر (4).jpg|A Bell 206 helicopter landing on the vessel
File:شهيد محمد ناظري - مراسم الحاق شناور شهید ناظری به ناوگان دریایی - بوشهر (7).jpg|Aluminum hull of the vessel
File:شهيد محمد ناظري - مراسم الحاق شناور شهید ناظری به ناوگان دریایی - بوشهر (5).jpg|Waterline of the vessel
Operational history
Shahid Nazeri was commissioned in September 2016 at Bushehr.
In April 2017, satellite imagery suggested that Shahid Nazeri was relocated to an operational naval base at the headquarters of 1st Naval Region in Bandar Abbas. The vessel did not participate in the Exercise Velayat 95 and only made "brief stints into nearby waters".{{citation|first=Chris|last=Biggers|title=Shahid Nazeri Deploys Near the Strait|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2017/04/27/shahid-nazeri-deploys-near-strait/|date=27 April 2017|access-date=15 July 2020|work=Bellingcat}} Shahid Nazeri was among Iranian vessels that participated in Marine Security Belt joint wargame with the Chinese and Russian navies, whose units were led respectively by the destroyer {{ship|Chinese destroyer|Xining|117|2}} and the frigate {{ship|Russian frigate|Yaroslav Mudry||2}}.{{citation|first=Syed Fazl-e|last=Haider|title=The Strategic Implications of Chinese-Iranian-Russian Naval Drills in the Indian Ocean|url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-strategic-implications-of-chinese-iranian-russian-naval-drills-in-the-indian-ocean/|journal=China Brief|volume=20|issue=1|date=17 January 2020|access-date=15 July 2020|publisher=Jamestown Foundation}}
Analyses
Kelsey D. Atherton of the Popular Science opined that the vessel is "mostly for show" and "[i]t’s unclear how the Nazeri fits into this larger speedboat-heavy strategy".{{citation|first=Kelsey D.|last=Atherton|title=Iran Wants To Make Its Navy Seem More Powerful With This New Ship|url=https://www.popsci.com/iran-shows-off-new-catamaran/|date=14 September 2016|access-date=15 July 2020|work=Popular Science}} Chris Biggers commented at Bellingcat that "[a] high-speed catamaran-like vessel could be useful" for Iran for establishing itself as a regional power, as well as moving operations beyond the Strait of Hormuz. Farzin Nadimi, an associate fellow with The Washington Institute, wrote in 2020 that Shahid Nazeri could be the flagship of the IRGC's naval forces because it has not been deployed for long-range missions and spends most of its time moored at the command headquarters.
References
{{Portal|Iran}}
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/harth-55.htm Profile] at GlobalSecurity.org
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S8poxoLMzw Footage of IRIS Shahid Nazeri confronting US Navy vessels in 2021]
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Category:Ships of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps