Iran can have powerful naval presence anywhere across intl. waters: Cmdr.

Following a successful naval mission in the high seas, Iran’s Navy commander says the country’s maritime strength and reach has grown to such a level that its naval forces can now sail to any point across international waters.

“Today, we can stage a powerful [naval] presence throughout all maritime expanses once the relevant decree is issued,” Rear Admiral Shahram Irani told a news conference on Tuesday.

“Iran is the only country that provides for its own naval security,” he added, citing the recent conclusion of a historic naval mission.

The mission saw the Navy’s 75th naval group head out to the high seas with the ultimate goal of partaking in a parade alongside the Russian navy in St. Petersburg.

Irani said the naval group recently returned to the country from the mission without finding itself in need of support from ports on its way, not even over technical matters.

He hailed the flotilla’s success in the mission, during which it sailed 45,000 kilometers (24,000 nautical miles) along 55 countries in three continents.

According to the commander, the flotilla, featuring Iran’s most advanced indigenous destroyer Sahand and support vessel Makran, began the mission by sailing to the northern Indian Ocean.

From there, it traveled all the way to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, he added. Turning around the cape in the Atlantic Ocean, the mission then sought its way to the Russian port city, the commander said.

Irani noted that the operation served to send across the message of “peace and friendship” to all the countries that were met by the flotilla on its way.

What mattered concerning the achievement, he added, was the Islamic Republic’s “self-confidence and competence on the international arena.”

SS