Fourth Soleimani-class catamaran enters IRGC service

Shahid Rais-Ali Delvari docked in Sharjah on 3 February 2025. (UAE Ministry of Defence)

The fourth Shahid Soleimani-class missile catamaran has entered Iranian service, the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) revealed on 3 February.

It announced that three ships from its naval wing sailed to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a three-day visit earlier that day, naming them as the combat ships Shahid Rais-Ali Delvari and Shahid Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and the combat support vessel Shahid Sattar Mahmoudi, as well as a frigate from the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) that it did not name.

It released photographs showing Shahid Rais-Ali Delvari (FS313-04) is the fourth Shahid Soleimani-class catamaran, the name of which was previously unknown. They also showed the IRIN vessel that joined the flotilla is Joshan, a Kaman-class fast attack missile craft.

Shahid Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is a smaller missile-armed catamaran, while Shahid Sattar Mahmoudi is a commercial offshore supply vessel used by the IRGC Navy.

The UAE Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the arrival of the flotilla later on 3 February when it said Iranian naval vessels had docked at Sharjah's Port Khalid for a three-day visit and released a photograph showing Shahid Rais-Ali Delvari.

The ship has not been fitted with its air surveillance radar yet and was not carrying any anti-ship missiles on its starboard side.

Satellite imagery shows Shahid Rais-Ali Delvari was built at Qeshm Madkandaloo Shipbuilding on Qeshm Island, like the first-of-class Shahid Soleimani, which was commissioned in September 2002. The other two were built at Bushehr and a small yard near Bandar Abbas and were ostensibly commissioned in February 2024, although one of them, ShahidHassan Bagheri