Iranian Warships Round the Horn
IRIS Sahand
Two Iranian Navy ships, the frigate Sahand and Makran, a former oil tanker that was converted to a floating forward staging base, have rounded the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Atlantic. National security officials tracking the ships do not know the ships’ final destination, but believe they are bound for Venezuela.
Tehran’s intent in sending the ships to Venezuela is not clear, but a spox for the National Security Council noted that Venezuela purchased weapons from Iran over a year ago.
“We would reserve the right to take appropriate measures — in concert with our partners — to deter the delivery or transit of such weapons,” the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.
David has been sending updates as the little flotilla steamed along the east coast of Africa.
Iranian warships appear to begin first Atlantic crossing as U.S. warns against weapons transfers
Lara Seligman and Nahal Toosi
Two Iranian Navy ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope for the first time and appear to be headed across the Atlantic, continuing a journey U.S. officials believe could ultimately end in Venezuela, according to a defense official with direct knowledge.
Tehran has threatened to send warships to the Western Hemisphere before but has aborted previous attempts. U.S. officials are not yet overly concerned, as there is still a small window of time for the ships to turn around or head to port instead of continuing the journey, the defense official said. But a successful crossing would be a significant demonstration of Iran’s naval capability and potentially provide Tehran a new foothold in America’s near abroad.
The U.S. national security apparatus has been closely monitoring the ships’ progress for the past two weeks. Their intent and cargo are still unknown, but the assumption is still that they could be headed toward Venezuela, the person said.
Biden officials signaled this week that the administration is concerned the ships could be carrying weapons bound for Caracas and warned that the United States would act to deter such a delivery. Satellite imagery of the ship from early May provided by Maxar Technologies shows seven fast-attack boats aboard its deck.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby noted that Venezuela purchased weapons from Iran over one year ago and warned that a new delivery “would be a provocative act and a threat to our partners in this hemisphere.”
Kirby warned that the United States reserves the right “to take appropriate measures — in concert with our partners — to deter the delivery or transit of such weapons.”
Of course, a U.S. defense official said on condition of anonymity there are currently no plans to send U.S. Navy ships to monitor or deter the Iranian task force.
Thanks, David.
Category: Biden, International Affairs, Iran
What is the 3rd term pres. obama going to do about this.
Send a few more planes loaded with pallets of cash to them. That will get their attention.
Biden won’t do anything other than what his handlers tell him to!
Dismaying. On all counts. To inasmuch ‘ignore’ this apparent provocation sends a rather dangerous and confusing message. And looking North – no relief here whatsoever – Trudeau would do nothing other than stand in front of the world’s press, beside his assistant poodle-PM, smile sheepishly and idiotically shrug…
Biden’s Cuban missile crisis….
Incorrect comparison, Beans. In that earlier crisis, our CINC was on our side…
Wonder if those Iranian Sailors have been practicing their fire drills lately?
Be a real shame if those ships ran into a storm of some sort, out there on the open seas.
Ol’ Poe would wager they’ve had an Israeli sub shadowing them since they weighed anchor…
In the Atlantic, they’re never more than about five miles from land.
Straight down.
Iran, like China and North Korea, knows that Biden is a doddering buffoon…..gutless, spineless and weak. He commands zero respect and they have zero fear of him.
I agree that President Biden is weak and will do nothing even if there is a real provocation.
However, can someone explain to me why the United States has any say in where the nation of Venezuela buys its weapons?
Venezuela may be a hell hole but it is a sovereign nation and has a right to equip it’s armed forces with weaponry.
Venezuela has not threatened the United States militarily.
Does our current embargo on Iran prevent them from selling arms to Venezuela?
That is the only thing I can think of where we might have a say in the matter.
But if Venezuela wants to buy conventional weapons from any other pariah state, I don’t see that we have any right to stop them
Monroe Doctrine. You should have learned about that back in grade school.
Tanker, under Trump the Monroe Doctrine might have been invoked but there’s little chance under Biden and the Democrats whose lefty leanings cause them to view it as American imperialism.
3 mark 48 adcaps, we were never there, nobody saw us, and you can’t prove a thing, “Bart Simpson”.
Just say the mess steward stumbled while bringing coffee to the COB and accidentally landed in the torpedo launch button. oopsy….
Did they round Cape Horn, or the Cape of Good Hope?
Same, same but different.
It’s this how the Flying Dutchman came about?
Looks someone in Iran us running around and playing with matches –
https://iranintl.com/en/iran/fire-and-explosion-hit-iran-steel-mill-third-such-incident-five-days
Of course, this utterly breaks my heart…