Satellite imagery showed that Iran transferred a model of an American aircraft carrier to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, indicating that it would use the model as a target for training in war games.
The pictures showed that Iran built a model similar to the American carrier "Nimitz" in a port in the city of Bandar Abbas in the south of the country, which is located at the entrance to the Gulf and vital for international oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
The use of American warships as a feature has sometimes become a feature of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and navy training, as happened when Iranian missiles struck a model similar to a Nimitz aircraft carrier in 2015.
One of the photos, taken by US-based space technology company Maxar Technologies on July 26, shows a fast attack boat moving toward the US aircraft carrier model in the strategic waterway. Another picture showed models of aircraft lined up on the surface of the fake carrier.
Experts suggest that the fictional aircraft carrier, which is about 200 meters long and 50 meters wide, will be used in maneuvers that Iran is preparing to implement next spring.
"We cannot comment on what Iran is hoping to achieve by making this model, or what tactical value they hope to achieve by using such a model in training or in an offensive training scenario," said Rebecca Ribarric, a spokesperson for the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain. .
"Our confidence is consistent in the ability of our navy to defend itself against any naval threat," she added.
Tension has been escalating between Iran and the United States since 2018 when US President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran's nuclear agreement with 6 international powers in 2015, and he reimposed sanctions that led to a sharp decline in Tehran's oil exports.
Mutual threats
And the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said last April that Tehran would destroy American warships if its security was threatened in the Gulf. Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if their country is unable to export oil or if its nuclear sites are attacked.
Clashes have occurred between the Iranian Guard and the American army in the Gulf from time to time in the past few years. US officials have said that closing the strait would represent a "red line" crossing, and that Washington would act to reopen it.
Iran cannot legally close the waterway unilaterally because part of it is located in Omani territorial waters, but the ships that sail in it pass through Iranian waters that are under the responsibility of the IRGC Naval Force.
And Tehran, which opposes the presence of American and Western navies in the Gulf, frequently conducts naval exercises in the strategic strait through which 30% of the total trade of crude oil and other oil liquids transported by sea passes.