The intelligence tracking station was said to contain Russian-origin radars, daytime cameras, infrared sensors and antennas that were meant to alert Iran's military to ships approaching the northern Gulf. The station was located at the entrance to the Shatt Al Arab waterway, across from the Iraqi port of Basra.

The U.S. military has also established a tracking station in the northern Gulf. The sources said the military has increased monitoring of Iranian activity, particularly that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. IRGC was said to be supplying the new Iranian intelligence base.

The United States intends to build another military base near the Iran-Iraq border in an effort to block the flow of Iranian weapons to Iraq. Officials said the base, meant to accommodate 200 soldiers, would contain X-ray machines and explosives-detecting sensors.

In August, then IRGC commander Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi said his force was capable of striking any part of the Gulf. Safavi, replaced in early September, said IRGC established a radar network that could track and target any asset in the region.

"We have surface-to-sea missile systems that can cover the length and breadth of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman," Safavi said on Aug. 15. "No boat or vessel can cross the Persian Gulf without being within the range of our coastal missiles.

The IRGC has reported the deployment of 1,000 fast patrol boats as part of Iran's swarm strategy. The strategy was meant to send up to 100 speedboats to overwhelm Western aircraft carriers or frigates.