The Iranians have a number of smaller submarines and could plan to use suicide boats much like the one used against the USS Cole pictured above. The article is wrong by the way, the attack occurred in 2000, not 1996. It also seems to over-emphasize the technological differences between the US Navy and the Iranian navy. There was the same technological gap between the Yemen terrorists who attacked the USS Cole, however they were able to exploit weaknesses of the ship while refueling. Small, two man subs could avoid detection and still deliver a punch to the Fifth Fleet. Small vessels could get close enough to frigates or destroyers to ram or explode a bomb. Iran may be able to deploy mines in such a way that the fleet is unable to detect them. Of course there is always dumb luck; someone makes a mistake and an attack goes from unlikely to historical.
Reuters
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