The U.S. military claims that Iran has been using scouts embedded in the boat traffic in and around Hormuz for spotting and targeting vessels, including American warships. Human spotters help offset the loss of Iran’s coastal radars, which U.S. forces have targeted and destroyed on multiple occasions, a military official confirmed to Reuters.
According to CENTCOM, U.S. forces intercepted and destroyed an Iranian-linked dhow on October 6. The vessel had been watching U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf of Oman, the command said. Two U.S. Marine Corps Apaches used missiles to damage the boat and set it on fire. Prior to destroying the vessel, Navy servicemembers retrieved the crew, and Central Command is working on repatriating the evacuees.
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An American military official confirmed to Reuters that Iran is using spotters on smaller craft to assist its targeting at sea. Countless dhows and small craft use the waters of the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman for commerce, smuggling and fishing – providing plenty of civilian traffic in which IRGC-affiliated personnel can hide.
The destruction of the dhow on October 6 does not appear to have slowed the pace of the Iranian attacks on shipping in and around the strait. Six merchant ships were attacked on Sunday alone, and four more on Tuesday, including a small container ship that was hit and sunk within the strait. Separately, a bulker that was hit on September 23 succumbed to flooding and sank on Tuesday.