Vengeance

50 IRIS JAMARAN

Along the northern shore of the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian frigate IRIS Jamaran loitered in the shoals just south of Larak Island. As the hot sun beat down on the warship’s metal structure, the ship’s captain, Commander Behzad Ahmadi, leaned back in his chair and checked the clock mounted to the Bridge bulkhead, waiting in anticipation as time counted down.

Two nights ago, Ahmadi’s ship had participated in a clandestine operation, laying mines provided by a military ally across the entire width of the Strait of Hormuz. It didn’t take much for Ahmadi to decipher that the ally was Russia, since the mines were marked with Cyrillic inscriptions. While Ahmadi didn’t care much about the markings nor who their covert ally was, he was keenly interested in the carnage the ordnance would inflict. Before laying each mine, an activation timer had been set. Ahmadi glanced again at the clock, his eyes remaining focused on the minute hand until it reached the designated time.

Ahmadi’s gaze shifted to the busy strait. A large container ship was less than a thousand yards away from the nearest layer of mines. His eyes followed the ship, his body tensing in anticipation as the unsuspecting merchant sped toward its demise.

Seconds after the ship reached the first mine layer, a billowy waterspout shot upward, engulfing the ship’s bow, and the sound of the muffled explosion rolled past Jamaran. When the mist cleared, Ahmadi could tell that the ship’s bow was already sinking lower into the water.

The merchant turned suddenly, heading north. It took Ahmadi a moment to realize what was happening. The merchant ship’s captain had quickly deduced what had occurred — the ship had hit a mine and was taking on water — and he had turned the ship toward the nearest shoal water, which was to the north, hoping to ground the merchant ship before it sunk. A wise move, Ahmadi concluded.

A moment later, another merchant ship reached the first mine layer to the west, suffering a similar fate, except this ship started taking water on faster and was unable to reach shoal water before slipping beneath the waves. On both sides of the strait, backing bells were ordered aboard the ships, and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz ground to a halt.

Ahmadi smiled. Their mission had been accomplished.