TEHRAN – The naval flotilla that the Iranian navy has dispatched to the Atlantic Ocean has alarmed the U.S. and the occupying regime of Israel, army chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said Sunday.
In a meeting with military commanders and cadets, Mousavi said the army has turned into the symbol of self-sufficiency in ground, air, naval and air defense sectors.
The army has made such advances that a fully homegrown flotilla of the navy, serving as the symbol of self-reliance and self-sufficiency, has broken the record of navigation on a mission to the Atlantic Ocean thousands of miles away from the country’s territorial waters, he added.
The U.S. and the Zionist regime are alarmed by the presence of the Iranian flotilla in the Atlantic, the commander said.
Last month, Tehran touched on media reports about the deployment of two Iranian warships to the Atlantic, stressing that Iran is entitled to freedom of navigation in international waters as it warned against any miscalculations in dealing with the Islamic Republic.
On Sunday, navy commander Rear Admiral Hussein Khanzadi traveled to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean to take part in the 7th edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS).
Reunion Island is located near Madagascar, southeast of Africa. The meeting is hosted by France.
Iran is a permanent member of IONS and held its presidency for three years beginning in 2018.
The IONS is a voluntary initiative that seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues.
It has 24 members, including Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, France, Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Seychelles, Thailand, Timor Leste, and the UK.
There are also eight observers, namely China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Russia and Spain.