View source for Iran Ajr

{{Short description|1978 Japanese-built landing craft used by Iran}}
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| Ship image=[[File:Port quarter view of Iranian minelaying ship Iran Ajr after American capture Operation Prime Chance 1986 DN-SC-87-12579.jpg|300px]]
| Ship caption=''Iran Ajr'', 1986
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{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country= Iran
| Ship flag= {{Shipboxflag|Iran|naval}}
| Ship name= ''Iran Ajr''
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| Ship builder=Teraoka Shipyard - Minamiawaji, Japan<ref name=shipyd>{{cite web |url=http://maritime-connector.com/ship/iran-ajr-7807196/ |title=7807196 Iran Ajr |publisher=Maritime Connector |access-date=29 June 2015 |archive-date=4 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204014241/http://maritime-connector.com/ship/iran-ajr-7807196/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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| Ship christened=''Arya Rakhsh''<ref name=shipyd/>
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| Ship acquired=by purchase, 1978
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| Ship renamed=''Iran Ajr'' (1980)
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| Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|7807196}}
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| Ship fate=Seized and scuttled by U.S. Navy, 26 September 1987
| Ship notes=Originally acquired by [[Imperial Iranian Navy]] as part of pre-1979 Revolution defense build-up. Was intended to be the first of a class of four. 
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption=<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/ajr-specs.htm |title=Iran Ajr/Hejaz Class |work=globalsecurity.org |date=2012 |access-date=29 August 2012 |archive-date=26 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626100253/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/ajr-specs.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
| Ship class= 
| Ship type= [[Landing ship]]/[[Minelayer]]
| Ship tonnage=
| Ship displacement=*{{Convert|614|t|LT|lk=on|abbr=on}} empty
*{{Convert|2,274|t|LT|abbr=on}} full load
| Ship length= {{Convert|53.85|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
| Ship beam= {{Convert|10.81|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| Ship draught= {{convert|3|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
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| Ship propulsion= 2 × diesel engines, 2 screws
| Ship speed= {{Convert|11|kn|lk=in}}
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| Ship complement=30
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| Ship armament=* 2 × {{Convert|12.7|mm|in|abbr=on}} machine guns
* Variable number of mines of various types

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'''''Iran Ajr''''' ({{Langx|fa|ایران اجر||Iran Gift}}), formerly known as the ''Arya Rakhsh'', was a Japanese-built [[landing craft]] used by [[Iran]] to lay [[naval mine]]s during the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref name="nohigherhonor">{{cite web | last = Peniston | first = Bradley | title = Capturing the Iran Ajr | work = No Higher Honor | year = 2006 | url = http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/pic-iranajr.shtml | access-date = 29 June 2015 | archive-date = 29 June 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120629130249/http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/pic-iranajr.shtml | url-status = live }}</ref> Built in 1978, the 614-ton, 54-meter ship was powered by two [[diesel engine]]s and featured a bow ramp for unloading cargo. She was [[scuttled]] in 1987.

==Iran–Iraq War==
On 21 September 1987, U.S. forces involved in [[Operation Prime Chance]] – the covert part of [[Operation Earnest Will]], the mission to protect U.S.-flagged [[petroleum]]-carrying ships in the [[Persian Gulf]] – tracked ''Iran Ajr'' and dispatched [[United States Army]] helicopters from the [[United States Navy]] [[Frigate#Guided-missile role|guided-missile frigate]] {{USS|Jarrett|FFG-33}} to shadow her. When the aviators reported that people aboard ''Iran Ajr'' were laying [[Naval mine|mines]], the U.S. commander in the Persian Gulf ordered the pilots to "stop the mining." The helicopters fired on the ship, killing some of the crewmen and chasing others into the water.{{cn|date=September 2024}} A team of [[United States Navy SEALs|United States Navy SEAL]] [[commandos]] later boarded the ship, confirmed the presence of mines, and detained the 26 surviving Iranians.<ref name="upi1">{{cite news |title=Rear Admiral Harold J. Bernsen, commander of the U.S.... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/04/Rear-Admiral-Harold-J-Bernsen-commander-of-the-US/9765560318400/ |date=4 October 1987}}</ref>

[[Rear Admiral]] [[Harold Bernsen]] said later that the detainees "were given the opportunity to seek [[political asylum]]. I think that was stated in Washington." Bernsen was "not actually present" when the offers were made by "an officer on my staff," whom he refused to identify. There were no State Department personnel present at the time, he said, but it was within his authority to make the offer in conformity with the policies of the [[US Department of State]]. "I think it was done very simply, and very generously."<ref name=upi1/>

On 26 September, [[Explosive ordnance disposal (United States Navy)|EOD]] MU5 Detachment 5 [[scuttling|scuttled]] the ship in [[international waters]].

When the U.S. Navy guided-missile frigate {{USS|Samuel B. Roberts|FFG-58}} struck a mine in the Persian Gulf in April 1988, U.S. Navy explosive ordnance specialists matched the serial numbers of nearby unexploded mines to the ones aboard ''Iran Ajr''. This evidence of Iranian involvement in the mining of ''Samuel B. Roberts'' led to the biggest surface-warfare naval battle since [[World War II]], the retribution campaign of 18 April 1988 called [[Operation Praying Mantis]].<ref name="nohigherhonor"/>

The captured [[Military colours, standards and guidons|colors]] of ''Iran Ajr'' are in the [[U.S. Navy Museum]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Wise|first=Harold Lee|title=Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf 1987-88|url=http://www.insidethedangerzone.com|location=Annapolis|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=2007|isbn=978-1-59114-970-5}}
*{{cite book|last1=Crist|first1=David|title=The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict With Iran|date=2012|publisher=The Penguin Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-59420-341-1}}

==External links==
*[https://archive.today/20020615003730/http://www.nightstalkers.com/history/4.html The attack on the Iran Ajr]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060907102736/http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/defense/1281181.html Another narration of the attack]
*[http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/pic-iranajr.shtml Photos of the captured Iran Ajr and its detainees aboard U.S. Navy warships]

{{1987 shipwrecks}}
{{Iran–United States relations}}
{{coord missing|Indian Ocean}}

[[Category:Amphibious warfare vessels of Japan]]<!-- constructed in -->
[[Category:Minelayers of Japan]]<!-- constructed in -->
[[Category:Amphibious warfare vessels of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy]]<!-- operated by -->
[[Category:Ships built in Japan]]
[[Category:1978 ships]]
[[Category:Iran–Japan relations]]
[[Category:Minelayers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy]]
[[Category:Operations involving special forces]]
[[Category:United States Navy in the 20th century]]
[[Category:Iran–United States relations]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Persian Gulf]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1987]]
[[Category:Vessels captured by the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Iran–Iraq War naval ships of Iran]]
[[Category:Scuttled vessels]]