Iran Submarine Returns to Persian Gulf After Refit

Russian-built 'Kilo-class' diesel-electric submarine repaired by Iranian engineers after original builders declined the work.

Iran has returned a Russian-built Project 877 class (NATO Kilo) diesel-electric submarine to the waters of the Persian Gulf following a refit, IRNA news agency reports.

The refitted boat, the Tareq, was relaunched at the port of Bandar Abbas. Iran has three Project 877 boats bought from Russia in the 1990s.

"Iranian engineers have repaired the boat's radars, pneumatic and compressor systems, pumps, engines, telecommunications and other systems," Vice Admiral Abbas Zamini, who oversaw the refit, told Iranian TV.

Iran also lauched a new indigenously-designed frigate, the Sahand, at Bandar Abbas on Tuesday, IRNA reported.

The vessel launches come at a time of increased tension in the region, with the United States and other western powers deploying large numbers of naval vessels to the region and Israeli politicians making increasingly strident warnings over Iran's nuclear program.