Revolutionary Guards Contact US Aircraft Carrier

The US aircraft carrier which the IRGC said it has contacted. Mehr news agency
The US aircraft carrier which the IRGC said it has contacted. Mehr news agency
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Revolutionary Guards Contact US Aircraft Carrier

The US aircraft carrier which the IRGC said it has contacted. Mehr news agency
The US aircraft carrier which the IRGC said it has contacted. Mehr news agency

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy Commander revealed on Friday new information about the surveillance and detection of a US strike group, including USS Nimitz aircraft carrier.

Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri told Iranian television that the US carriers were monitored by the army’s naval forces and IRGC’s navy under the supervision of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the leadership of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.

He said Iran monitored the US naval forces by air and by sea, adding that the flotilla has not entered the Gulf area for the past 10 months.

“IRGC forces detected the US strike group. The Iran forces contacted them and asked them some questions,” Tangsiri said, confirming that the US forces responded to the Iranian inquiries.

“This area belongs to us. We have full control over it from the moment a vessel sets sail from a port to the moment it arrives,” the Iranian Admiral said.

“The Americans should be in the Arabian Gulf, because when they are there, this means that we completely control them,” he added.

On Wednesday, Tangsiri said that a drone of the IRGC’s Navy detected a US strike group before the flotilla cruised through the Strait of Hormuz and into the waters of the Gulf.

The detected US vessels were the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier along with its flotilla of ships, including two destroyers with identification numbers 114 and 104, battle cruisers 58 and 59, two patrol frigates with identification numbers 9 and 12, and a coast guard cutter with code 1333.

Tangsiri said the IRGC Navy will acquire drone and helicopter-carrying vessels this year.

The Iranian Army’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said Iran monitors US naval forces “the moment they set sail from port.”

He added that the Iranian Navy conducts its operations, such as monitoring and controlling the movements of US vessels through full coordination with the IRGC.

He said the Americans are monitored by the Iranian Army’s Navy in the Arabian Sea. “Once they enter the Arabian Gulf, it’s the IRGC which monitors them,” he said.

The Iranian Commander revealed that the Dena destroyer, a vessel of the Jamaran-class, will be unveiled in December.

He told Press TV that a fourth Fateh submarine is being developed with air-independent propulsion (AIP), allowing the craft to remain submerged for a longer duration.



Israel's Netanyahu Heads to Hungary, Defying ICC Arrest Warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Israel's Netanyahu Heads to Hungary, Defying ICC Arrest Warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins a four-day visit to Hungary on Thursday, defying an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza as Israel has expanded its military operation in the enclave.

As a founding member of the ICC, Hungary is theoretically obliged to arrest and hand over anyone subject to a warrant from the court but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made clear when he issued the invitation that Hungary would not respect the ruling.

Netanyahu is due to meet Orban ahead of a press conference at around 1000 GMT.

In Budapest, workers were constructing a stage in the Buda Castle on Wednesday, where Orban was scheduled to welcome Netanyahu in a ceremony with military honors on Thursday morning and security forces could be seen near the central Budapest hotel where Netanyahu will be staying, The AP news reported.

The visit will be only the second he has made abroad since the International Criminal Court issued warrants to arrest both him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last November, but details of his program have been limited apart from a planned visit to a Holocaust memorial.

He visited Washington in February to meet close ally US President Donald Trump. Neither Israel nor the United States are members of the ICC, with Washington arguing the ICC could be used for politically motivated prosecutions.

Orban invited Netanyahu to visit a day after the ICC issued its arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, where Israel launched an offensive following a devastating attack by thousands of Hamas fighters on the October 7 attack.

Since then, the Israeli campaign has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and devastated the Gaza Strip, triggering protests worldwide and prompting South Africa to launch separate legal action in the International Court of Justice, a different body to the ICC, accusing Israel of genocide.