Iran conflict 2026: The demise of the Iranian navies

An image released by US Central Command on 4 March shows the IRGCN's Shahid Sayad Shirazi on fire. (US Central Command)

US Central Command images released on 4 March showed the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy's (IRGCN's) Shahid Sayad Shirazi burning. The revelation, and accompanying briefing detailed the rapid demise of Iran's conventional naval power.

Officially commissioned in February 2024, Shahid Sayad Shirazi was the third of the Soleimani-class catamarans that represented the pinnacle of Iranian naval technology. Designed for high speed and a small radar cross-section, the 600 tonne vessels were armed with six anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles in vertical launcher systems, and close-in weapon systems. Only two appear to have been fitted with air-surveillance radars by the beginning of the US-Israeli attack on 28 February.

US Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth announced during a 4 March press briefing that the IRGCN's “prize ship” Soleimani, the first of class, was sunk the previous evening. He also confirmed that Dena, the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) Jamaran-class frigate that attended India's fleet review in February, had been sunk by in the Indian Ocean a US Navy submarine, adding that the Iranian navy was resting at the bottom of the Gulf.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine elaborated on the damage inflicted on Iran's two navies after first four days of Operation ‘Epic Fury' in a press briefing on 4 March. He said that more than 20 vessels had been destroyed in addition to Dena, and including a submarine.

“To hunt and kill an out-of-area deployer is something only the United States can do at this type of scale,” he said regarding the sinking of Dena