Tel Aviv. The Iranian navy is increasing its presence in the Atlantic Ocean and plans to send more ships to the area. The Iranian navy commander recently explained the reasons for that strategy.
In a recent interview to an Iranian TV channel, Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, Commander of Iran’s Navy said that in the past, Iran would only monitor American presence in the region and prepare a reaction to any possible “mischief”, but now Iran is the one “initiating processes” in the Atlantic Ocean. He made his remarks in an interview that aired on Channel 1 (Iran) on July 10, 2021.
Admiral Khanzadi said that the Iranian Navy is currently positioned 5,000 miles from US borders. He said that while it has no plans of reaching the Gulf of Mexico, the US is “worried” because the “gates of the Atlantic Ocean” have been opened to Iran. Admiral Khanzadi added that while the US had the “Nerve” to establish military bases around Iran and to bring the fleet to its borders, claiming it is free to maintain its presence in international waters, 12 miles from Iranian shores, the Iranian Navy is 5,000 miles away from the United States.
The Iranian high ranking officer added that so far, the Americans used to come to the regions near Iran, which forced Iran to cautiously monitor the US navy movements. “Today, we are the ones who initiate processes in the Atlantic Ocean. Obviously, our presence in the Atlantic Ocean was only in response to the American claim that the Iranians would never be able to do it.”
The commander of the Iranian navy was asked why Washington reacted with so much “noise” about the new Iranian navy’s deployment and he answered that his country has no intentions to reach the Gulf of Mexico.
Israeli sources assessed that the Iranian move is just intended to show that Iran is not afraid from the US. “The Iranians want to put pressure as the negotiations about a new nuclear deal reach a critical point. It is not always clear what they really want to achieve,” one of the Israeli sources said.
-The writer is an International Roving Correspondent of the publication. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
