TEHRAN – The Iranian Navy’s 86th flotilla has docked at a port in Oman after a long voyage around the globe with the objective of expanding Iran’s naval presence in international waters.
After traveling 63,000 kilometers, the flotilla of warships has now docked at the Salalah port on the 236th day of its voyage.
The 86th flotilla, also known as the 360th flotilla, set sail from Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 20 last year and has sailed in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The flotilla has crossed the equator four times and will reach Bandar Abbas after traveling an additional 2,000 kilometers.
It is comprised of Dena, a warship equipped with anti-ship cruise missiles, torpedoes and naval cannons, and Makran, an afloat military base that can carry five helicopters and is employed for providing logistical support for combat warships.
Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said the U.S. once failed to prevent the Iranian Navy’s 86th flotilla of warships from sailing through the Panama Canal.
In February, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified Dena and Makran warships as Iranian property for sanctions related to a wider effort to target the country’s drone industry.
“They could not even prevent the flotilla from sailing into the Panama Canal ... This was another slap on the face of the Great Satan,” he told Fars news agency.
The flotilla had also a run-in with French forces which claimed the Iranian warships had entered their waters.
“Unfortunately, they were not aware of their own regulations and caused disturbances for us, to which we responded in the language of law,” he Irani said.
Last year, the 75th flotilla, including the Sahand and Makran warships, set a record of navigation for 45,000 kilometers after a trip to Saint Petersburg in Russia.
The 86th flotilla set sail from south of Iran in early autumn with the purpose of circumnavigating the world. The two vessels of the flotilla berthed at Brazil’s southeastern port city of Rio de Janeiro in February.
Dena is a Mowj-class warship that joined the Iranian Navy in June 2021. The military vessel is equipped with anti-ship cruise missiles, torpedoes and naval cannons.
The other vessel of the flotilla is Makran, a forward base ship weighing 121,000 tons.
The oil-tanker-turned-warship can carry five helicopters and is employed for providing logistical support for the combat warships.
The Iranian Navy has set up three ocean commands supervising naval missions to the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.