First clear pic of Makran ESB Iranian Expeditionary Warship

The commander of the Iranian Navy has said that they plan to soon launch a new ship designed to support Iran’s international operations and act as an forward operating base.

According to naval analyst H.I. Sutton, the Iranian navy is about to launch their latest addition, the I.R.I.N.S Makran. The ship is a conversion of a tanker and has been reequipped with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles to give it some defensive and offensive capabilities.

However, the purpose of the ship is not to conduct combat operations itself, but to support other forces in their own missions. In this way the Makran is analogous to the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB).