Iranian press review: Iran relies on speedboats to keep Strait of Hormuz closed
Speedboats described as key deterrent in Gulf
As renewed attacks between Iran and the US expand into Iraq and Yemen, the Hamshahri daily, which has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has dedicated its front page to a report on the force's speedboats in the Gulf.
On Wednesday, the daily described the boats as the "winning card in the Persian Gulf" and said they are one of the main elements of Iran's deterrence against an expansion of US attacks.
"The fleet has become one of the most complex challenges facing American forces in the Persian Gulf over the past two decades by relying on the 'swarm attack' tactic. It has also served as Iran's strategic tool in the Strait of Hormuz over the past five months," Hamshahri wrote.
According to the report, Iran's naval strategy is based on developing small, high-speed, low-cost boats in large numbers.
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Rather than competing directly with larger fleets, the strategy aims to increase the enemy's costs and limit its freedom of action.
On the role of the boats in keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed, Hamshahri added: "The combination of speedboats, naval mines, cruise and ballistic missiles, and drones has completed the puzzle of Iran's strategic encirclement of the Strait of Hormuz."
'Real victory lies in peace,' says first IRGC navy commander
Brigadier General Hossein Alaei, the first commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy and a former Iranian defence official, has joined political figures calling for an end to the war with the United States, saying Iran's true victory lies in restoring peace and stability.
Alaei, who served as a senior IRGC commander during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), commented on the conflicts launched against Iran by the United States and Israel since June 2025.
"In war, while it is true that Iran defends itself, stands firm, and strikes back at its enemy, the very existence of war is to the detriment of the Iranian people," he said.
The former IRGC commander also criticised the collapse of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Iran and the United States. He described the agreement as a complete victory for Iran and a defeat for Israel.
"In this agreement, we gave up virtually nothing," Alaei said.
"The US believes it has stripped, damaged and destroyed Iran's nuclear programme. The maximum we have conceded is that we will discuss the nuclear issue in the future, while from the beginning Iran's position was not to possess nuclear weapons."
He also said the agreement had put pressure on Israel to halt its military strikes on Lebanon.
"Israel wanted to strike Lebanon every day; through this agreement, we stopped Israel's daily attacks on Lebanon. This is a very big victory," he said.
While hardline factions in Iran have called for an end to all negotiations with the United States and for the war to continue since military clashes resumed on 7 July, some figures from the older generation of the IRGC, including Alaei, are advocating an end to the fighting.
Pressure on opposition figures in Belarus
A BBC Persian investigation says Belarusian security forces have interrogated, detained and deported Iranian students over social media posts critical of the Islamic Republic.
The students accused the Iranian Embassy in Belarus of working with the country's security services to carry out transnational repression against government critics.
Khatereh Khodadadi, a dental student who spoke to BBC Persian, said she was arrested at her home by masked agents after expressing joy on Instagram over the US-Israeli killing of Ali Khamenei, Iran's former supreme leader.
She said she was questioned about her views on Islam and the Iranian government before being sentenced to 15 days in prison on charges of "deliberate disobedience.
.According to Khodadadi, she spent 45 days in detention under poor conditions before being deported to a third country and banned from entering Belarus for 30 years.
Another student, identified as Pezhman, alleged that the Iranian ambassador gave Belarusian authorities a list of government critics and accused them of attempting to set fire to the Iranian Embassy.
Similar reports have also emerged from other countries, including Armenia, where Iranian protesters say their passports were seized in coordination with the Iranian Embassy.
Identity of pilot killed in 40-day war revealed
Local media have identified Brigadier General Majid Kazemi as one of the pilots of two Iranian Su-24 tactical bombers killed on 2 March during an attack on a US military base in Qatar.
No official information about the operation, which was carried out in response to US and Israeli attacks on Iran, had previously been released.
According to recent reports, the two Su-24 aircraft were shot down on their return to Iran after bombing the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
The reports say the aircraft took off from a military base in the city of Shiraz. Iranian authorities have not released any further details about the other pilots killed in the operation.
Iranian state television had previously reported on another operation involving Iranian pilots, in which F-5 fighter jets attacked a US military base in Kuwait.
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