Iran has apparently built a fake ship resembling a U.S. aircraft carrier that could be used for live-fire drills.
Photos of the replica, which were obtained by the Associated Press, show that the vessel resembles the Nimitz-class ships used by the U.S. Navy in the Strait of Hormuz. The mock-up is reportedly docked in Bandar Abbas, a port city located on Iran’s southern coast.
The fake ship, which is about 650 feet long and 160 feet wide, is dwarfed by Nimitz carriers, which are about 980 feet long and 245 feet wide. The replica also holds 16 mock fighter jets onboard, according to the satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies.
The replica hearkens back to 2015 when the regime sunk a similar one during live-fire drills. Speedboats armed with machine guns surrounded that mock vessel and fired upon it before it was sunk by surface-to-sea missiles.
“American aircraft carriers are very big ammunition depots housing a lot of missiles, rockets, torpedoes, and everything else,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s then-navy chief, Adm. Ali Fadavi, said back in 2015.
Tensions continue to persist with Iran after a tumultuous year between the two countries that began with a U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. Iran then fired a barrage of missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces, resulting in several brain injuries among troops.
The news comes the same day as Iran convicted and sentenced a man to death who it believes acted as an informant for the United States and Israel about Soleimani’s whereabouts.
Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report that showed Iran is continuing to violate all of its nuclear deal restrictions, including the enriching and stockpiling of uranium. After an April incident involving Iranian vessels approaching U.S. ships, President Trump said he ordered the Navy to destroy any Iranian boats that attempt similar maneuvers.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to U.S. Central Command for comment.
