Iranian Navy warships will arrive in Brazil in the next few days.
According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, the passage through Rio de Janeiro is part of a mission being conducted to the Panama Canal.
Iranian Navy Commander Shahram Irani said plans are underway to send naval forces to the Panama Canal as Iranian military personnel approaches the Americas’ shores.
Experts say the Islamic country seeks to challenge the United States and strengthen ties with its Latin American allies.
The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is one of the world’s two most strategic artificial canals. Panama is about 2,000 miles from the southern border of the United States.
Iran’s goal “is to have a military presence in Latin America, so it is not surprising that its navy announces that it will conduct military exercises in the Panama Canal,” Joseph Humire, director of the Center for a Free and Secure Society, told The Washington Free Beacon, noting that this is a “tremendous escalation.”
IDEOLOGICAL ISSUE
“This is what Iran has been building in Latin America for the last 30 or 40 years, through the establishment of embassies, bilateral agreements, and military exercises with allies like Russia, China, and Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea,” he added.
This move would be for Tehran a step toward a growing relationship with its allies: countries run by dictators, such as Venezuela and Nicaragua, the US news chain NewsNation reported.
“It is paramount to examine and act against the Iranian regime’s efforts to export its fundamentalist ideology not only in the Middle East but also beyond,” Iranian-American political scientist Majid Rafizadeh told Arab News.
THE SHIPS
The Dena is a Mowj-class warship that joined the Iranian Navy in June 2021. The vessel has anti-ship cruise missiles, torpedoes, and naval cannons.
The other vessel is the Makran, a forward-based ship weighing 121,000 tons. The tanker-turned-warship can carry five helicopters and is employed to provide logistical support to battleships.
With information from Gazeta do Povo