Iran: US Replica Carrier Assaulted During Naval Drills in Persian Gulf

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard attacked a full-size replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier during naval drills on Wednesday.

The drill, which took place near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, appears to be a demonstration that Iran won’t back down to the United States and other world leaders in negotiations about the Republic’s nuclear program, The Associated Press reported.

Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the chief commander of the Revolutionary Guard, said the drills send a “message of (Iran’s) might” to “extraterritorial powers,” the AP said. It was the first time a model of a U.S. ship was used in drills.

U.S. officials were not concerned.

“We’re quite confident of our naval forces’ ability to defend themselves,” Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said, according to the AP. “It seems they’ve attempted to destroy the equivalent of a Hollywood movie set.

A video of the drill on Iranian TV included the comment, "If the Americans are ready to be buried at the bottom of the waters of the Persian Gulf, so be it," UPI reported.

About one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

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