TEHRAN — Iran will target American aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf should a war between the two countries ever break out, the naval chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned Tuesday as the country completes work on a large-scale mock-up of a US carrier.
The remarks by Admiral Ali Fadavi, who heads the hard-line Guard’s naval forces, were a marked contrast to moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s recent outreach policies toward the West — a reminder of the competing viewpoints that exist at the highest levels within the Islamic Republic.
Iran is building a simple replica of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to be used in military exercises, an Iranian newspaper confirmed last month. Fadavi was quoted Tuesday by the semiofficial Fars news agency as saying the immense size of the US carriers makes them an easy target.
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‘‘Aircraft carriers are the symbol of America’s military might,’’ he said. ‘‘The carriers are responsible for supplying America’s air power. So, it’s natural that we want to sink the carriers.’’
The Revolutionary Guard’s naval forces are primarily based in and around the Gulf and include a number of missile boats and fast-atack vessels. The commander said the Guard navy has carried out exercises targeting mock-ups of American warships. In one case, he said, it took 50 seconds to destroy one of the simulated warships.
Tasnim, another semiofficial news agency close to the Guard, reported that an investigation has found that the Nimitz-class carriers used by the United States could be seriously damaged or destroyed if 24 missiles were fired simultaneously.
An American Navy official in the Gulf was dismissive of the Iranian claims, and of the simulated carrier in particular.
‘‘Whatever Iran hopes to do with the mock-up, it is likely to have zero impact on US Navy operations in the Gulf,’’ said Commander Jason Salata, a spokesman for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
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