HARARE, March 28. /TASS/. Tehran strongly rejects US claims that Iran’s Navy has been destroyed, Iranian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Amir Hossein Hosseini said in an interview with TASS.

"Iranian military sources have firmly rejected US claims that our maritime forces have been neutralized, describing such assertions as part of a broader psychological and media campaign," he pointed out.

"Iran’s naval doctrine is grounded in asymmetric warfare, relying on a combination of dispersed assets, including fast-attack crafts, submarines, and coastal defense systems. This decentralized and highly flexible structure is specifically designed to withstand conventional strikes while maintaining operational readiness. As such, any perception of uncontested control over regional waters is both premature and misleading - and if anyone wishes to test Iran’s defensive capabilities, they are welcome to try," the envoy noted.

According to him, it is also important to recall that prior to the launch of the US-Israeli war against Iran, "the United States conducted an extensive show-of-force campaign centered on its aircraft carriers." "Yet from that time until now, USS Abraham Lincoln has reportedly not approached the Strait of Hormuz, let alone entered the Persian Gulf, while questions remain regarding the operational status of USS Gerald R. Ford," the diplomat stressed.

"Exaggerated portrayals of US naval power have, in practice, coincided with attacks on vulnerable targets. Notably, the strike on Dena, an unarmed Iranian training frigate, resulted in the loss of dozens of young officers thousands of kilometers from the main theater of conflict. This cowardly and barbaric attack has been widely characterized as a grave violation of international law and an abhorrent war crime. More recently, following failed attempts to degrade Iran’s naval capabilities, American-Zionist forces have escalated attacks against civilian maritime assets," the Iranian ambassador concluded.