It has been one year since Iranian Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani was assassinated at Baghdad airport by an American drone, and tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been heating up over the past few weeks. Iraqi militias, with ties to Iran, still want revenge. Special correspondent Jack Hewson reports, and Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.
Read the Full Transcript
Judy Woodruff:
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as we just mentioned, have been heating up over the past few weeks, as the one-year anniversary approached of the American killing of a top Iranian general in Iraq. Militias there with ties to Iran still want revenge.
These small boats are something of a joke, but they could still lay mines or fire missiles.
Key point: Iran s navy isn t very impressive. However, it would still be unwise to ignore it and not take any precautions.
In 2006, Iranian television showcased a peculiar sea-skimming flying boat, and four years later Tehran triumphantly announced it had three squadrons of them serving in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. News commentators boasted it was one of the few countries to “design and produce such advanced flying boats,” which is technically true.
The blue-painted
Bavar-2 flying boats seen in this video are examples of Ground Effect Vehicles, also known as ekranoplans, sea skimmers, or Wing-In-Ground vehicles. Basically, these are designed to fly at very low altitudes by capitalizing on “ground effect,” the phenomenon in which wing surfaces encounter less drag the closer they are to the surface. After generating lift through speed during takeoff, GEVs can stay
How does the rag-tag fleet intend to fight its future wars?
Key point: Tehran does not have a very advanced or big navy. However it does have the ability to harrass its enemies.
Tensions have escalated in the Persian Gulf region in the aftermath of U.S. president Donald Trump’s decision unilaterally to withdraw the United States from the agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program.
The U.S. military has implicated Iranian agents in several summer 2019 attacks on civilian ships sailing near Iran. The U.S. Navy sent the aircraft carrier USS
Abraham Lincoln and her strike group to the region. The U.S. Air Force deployed B-52 bombers and F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters.
These jets have been upgraded and maintained as precious semi-modern weapons.
Key point: Iran knows its weapons are out-of-date. However, it also knows it should keep and improve what U.S.-built planes and systems it still has.
Tensions have escalated in the Persian Gulf region in the aftermath of U.S. president Donald Trump’s decision unilaterally to withdraw the United States from the agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program.
The U.S. military has implicated Iranian agents in several summer 2019 attacks on civilian ships sailing near Iran. The U.S. Navy sent the aircraft carrier USS
Abraham Lincoln and her strike group to the region. The U.S. Air Force deployed B-52 bombers and F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters.
2,506 shares
Iranian judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a ceremony on the occasion of the first anniversary of death of former Quds force commander Qasem Soleimani in Tehran, on January 1, 2021. (STR / AFP)
TEHRAN, Iran Iran’s judiciary chief warned Friday that Qassem Soleimani’s killers will “not be safe on Earth,” as the Islamic Republic began marking the first anniversary of the top general’s assassination in a US strike.
Ebrahim Raisi, speaking at an event in Tehran to pay tribute to Soleimani, said not even US President Donald Trump, who ordered the strike, was “immune from justice.”
Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020, ratcheting up tensions between decades-old enemies the United States and Iran.