Whether or not the military posturing by the United States and Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman actually results in armed hostilities, militarists in Iran are having a field day. While politicians such as Hashemi Rafsanjani, Khatami and Mehdi Karrubi (reformist former parliament speaker) are seeking to lower tensions, the militarists see an opportunity in the confrontation. “Militarists are still craving for a confrontation with the United States because this can strengthen their status,” said an observer, who requested anonymity. “Their future will depend on the outcome of the standoff.”

Last week, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) naval and air forces staged a military manoeuvre in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman near the Hormuz Strait to test-fire the newly acquired, Russian-made TOR M-1 surface-to-air defence shield, claimed to be short-range by the manufacturer.

The war games were the country’s second since a December 23 UN resolution banned sale to Iran technology or material that could be used in its nuclear or missile programmes. But Iran test-fired its short-range missiles in January. The military exercise held by IRGC’s air wing and code-named ‘Saeqeh’ (Thunderbolt) was designed to boost air defence and counter-attack “any possible” offensive against the Iranian airspace, Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander, was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

The TOR M-1 air defence shield has a 12 km range which could be increased to 20 km, Salami said and added that it is capable of rapidly tracing down 48 targets and engaging with eight, including cruise missiles simultaneously.

The system, capable of tracing modern Cruise missiles, was successfully test-fired on the first of the two-day manoeuvres, Salami said. In addition to a number of other short- and medium-range missiles, IRGC deployed the SSN4 land-to-sea strategic missile in operations dubbed Ra’d (Thunder) on the second day of the exercise, Rear Admiral Fadavi of IRGC naval force was quoted as saying.

“All these are ways the hardline militarist faction of the regime can buy itself loyalty,” the analyst said. “Iranian reformists constantly refer to the last will of Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the Revolution, in which he admonished all armed forces to keep away from interference in political factionalism”. Militarists, however, justify their involvement in politics claiming it is their constitutional responsibility to ‘guard the revolution’ and the Islamic Republic.

“The war between militarists and politicians has been going on for a long time now,” an observer said. One of the instances of the confrontation between militarists and politicians became public several months ago when in an interview the Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps’ former chief commander, Mohsen Rezaiee, accused politicians of lobbying to halt the Iran-Iraq war by accepting United Nations resolution 598, “before victory could be achieved”. — IPS