U.S. Central Command Urges IRGC Restraint During Naval Exercise in Strait of Hormuz Amid Iranian Deployments

MIDDLE EAST - U.S. Central Command issued a statement on January 30 urging the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to conduct its announced two-day live-fire naval exercise in the Strait of Hormuz in a safe and professional manner to avoid risks to international maritime traffic.

This followed Iran’s announcement of the exercise scheduled to begin on February 1. Iranian Armed Forces deployed hundreds of fast attack craft and missile-launching vessels near USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on January 29, according to state-run reports.

Satellite Imagery Confirms IRGC Navy’s Shahid Bagheri Drone Carrier Anchored Off Key Port In Strait of Hormuz

Satellite imagery from commercially available sources, analyzed by the Institute for the Study of War in its January 29 report, confirms the IRGC Navy’s Shahid Bagheri drone carrier anchored approximately six kilometers off the coast of Bandar Abbas, a key port on the Strait of Hormuz.

This academic organization attributes the detail to data dated January 26-27, and cross-references it with reports from Defa Press, affiliated with Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff.

The positioning provides visual corroboration of vessel movements amid regional deployments, enhancing assessments of force postures in the area, and supports Iran’s preparations for the live-fire naval exercise, aligning with state-run media descriptions of enhanced maritime readiness in the area, though official Iranian or U.S. military releases have not independently published similar data.

US Air Force Central Multi-Day Readiness Exercise, Key Developments

Concurrently, the U.S. Air Forces Central announced a multi-day readiness exercise on January 27 to demonstrate deployment and sustainment of combat air-power across the Central Command area of responsibility.

Operations continued with an F/A-18E Super Hornet launch from USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on January 30, supporting regional security.