The Iranian navy plans to station warships in a critical trading route: the Panama Canal.
The announcement comes amid an ongoing campaign to install an Iranian military presence in Latin America — which would also come to the doorstep of the United States.
The move is the latest Iran has made to establish itself in America’s backyard
The commander of Iran’s Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, announced Wednesday that his forces will establish a presence in the Panama Canal by the end of 2023, marking the first time Iran’s navy has sailed in the Pacific Ocean, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
Meanwhile, Iran has been building strong ties with anti-American Latin American leaders like Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, who many have called a dictator.
The U.S. Department of State has called Iran out for providing drones and support to Russia to help fuel its war in Ukraine.
Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that the U.S. sanctioned seven people involved in Iran’s drone program.
The Biden administration continues to condemn Iran for executing protest leaders, many of whom have been taking to the streets for months protesting Iranian treatment of women and the Islamic government.
During a ceremony in Iran’s capital, Admiral Irani said the navy’s plans for the Panama Canal were intended to ‘strengthen our maritime presence in international waters.’
‘The army navy has been present in all the strategic straits in the world to date, and we have not been present in only two straits, and we will be present in one of these straits this year,’ Irani said.
‘We are planning to be present in the Panama Canal.
‘Today we have to strengthen our maritime presence in international waters and today we can say that there is no scientific barrier to grow in that field,’ he added, according to Iranian state-controlled media.
The Panama Canal connects the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
It is located about 2,500 miles away from the United States’ southernmost border.
Iran’s plans for the Panama Canal come days after the third anniversary of the assignation of the prominent Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a targeted drone strike by the US on January 3, 2020.
