Amid tense anticipation of a retaliatory response to the assassination of the leader of the Islamist Hamas movement in Tehran by Israel, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Division General Hosein Salami, announced on the nearby portal Tasnim that he had just handed over over 2,600 new missiles, drones and other material to his elite maritime units of the IRGC-N (Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, responsible for maritime operations in the Persian Gulf).

Abu Mahdi, Photo: IRNA

These weapons are said to be even more capable, longer-range, more explosive and less susceptible to jamming and interception than all previous systems. Allegedly, only 210 weapons were on display at the show, and there is unusually little visual material available for such an announcement. Is it all just a bluff? Certainly not, because Iran is constantly developing and producing. One of the IRGC-N's latest units is the twin-hulled FK corvette "Abu Mahdi", named after the high-ranking officer who died in the US assassination attempt on General Soleimani in 2020. In the background, part of the Revolutionary Guards' armoury, which is always on display.