U.S. aircraft carrier Gerald Ford[AFP=Yonhap News photo][AFP=Yonhap News photo]
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened strikes not only in the Gulf, including the Strait of Hormuz, but also against logistics hubs around the Red Sea.
In a statement on the 15th local time, an IRGC spokesman said the U.S. aircraft carrier Gerald Ford — which was deployed in strikes against Iran — is in the Red Sea. He called all logistics and service facilities around the Red Sea that support the carrier “legitimate targets.”
State-run Press TV identified the Gerald Ford as making a port call at Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah. It said the warning applies not only to the carrier itself but also to the infrastructure that supports, maintains and services it so the ship can operate.
In addition to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s main commercial port, military vessels operating in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea routinely call at Djibouti’s Lemonnier naval base, Oman’s Duqm Port and the UAE’s Fujairah port for maintenance and servicing.
After U.S. strikes hit Kharg Island, Iran’s largest oil export terminal, on the 13th, the IRGC expanded its list of potential targets to include ports and airports across the Gulf. Iranian drones struck oil export facilities at Fujairah on the 14th and again on the 16th.
Earlier this month the IRGC also warned it was monitoring the Gerald Ford and would wait for the carrier to enter its weapons range.
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Lee Ji-yun (easyun@yna.co.kr)
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