Channel 12: Iran Holds the Maritime Cards as Washington Weighs a Naval Confrontation

By Staff, Agencies

In recent days, US President Donald Trump threatened that the US has “a larger fleet than that sent to Venezuela,” as the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and additional warships are deployed in the Gulf, according to Channel 12. The outlet said it “appears that both Washington and Tehran are signaling that a naval confrontation will be far more central in this round.”

Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher in the Iran Program at the so-called “Institute for National Security Studies”, told Channel 12 that this arena would be extremely important if the United States were to attack.

Citrinowicz added, “The Iranians do not have an advantage over the Americans at sea, but they have a greater ability to harm them,” explaining that “the Iranians have broad experience in the maritime domain and possess significant capabilities, and ultimately a conflict in this arena may suit them better.”

It is worth noting that the maritime arena played little role during the twelve-day war in June 2025, despite the deployment of major naval assets in the region at the time, including an aircraft carrier and a large number of warships. This appears to be because there were no exposed “Israeli” naval assets operating against Iran in the area and because the US attack was limited and carried out from the air. This time, however, with the expected involvement of the US Navy in any potential attack, the picture could be entirely different.

Iran’s Maritime Toolbox

According to Citrinowicz, the Iranian threat at sea stems first from land. Iran is capable of launching ballistic missiles and drones that could damage US warships. The second threat lies in operations by Iranian naval commando units against American vessels. This scenario is not unprecedented: in 2019, Iran was accused of carrying out a commando operation that involved attaching explosive devices to an oil tanker sailing near the region as part of an effort to pressure the West to lift economic sanctions.

The third threat, Citrinowicz says, is Iran’s own navy, which includes warships and submarines but suffers from major weaknesses compared with the US fleet. It consists of about 20,000 personnel and roughly 100 vessels, including around 20 submarines.

He stressed that one of the most dangerous steps Iran could take would be to close the shipping lane in the Strait of Hormuz, a pivotal chokepoint for global energy supplies. This is a measure that Iranian officials speak about openly, and that was also raised during the twelve-day war. “Hormuz may be the most important story,” he said, noting that “they could plant naval mines in the strait or position ships as physical barriers.”