By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

It is indeed a great milestone for the Iranian navy and proof of the independent policies of the Islamic Republic.
The entry of the Destroyer “Sahand” and the Floating Naval Based named “Makran” into the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland and their docking at St. Petersburg (former capital of Czarist Russia), for participation in the parade on the anniversary of Russia’s Naval Day, is indeed a feather in the cap of the Iranian navy.
It is not just proof of the friendship between Tehran and Moscow and their joint efforts to safeguard peace, but a slap on the face of the meddling Americans that they cannot do a damn thing.
After keeping the regimes of the US and Western Europe in suspense following the Iranian navy’s entry into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time ever a couple of months ago, these two vessels have demonstrated the seaworthiness of the Islamic Republic’s naval forces which have finally come of age.
Gone are the days of pre-revolution Iran when the unrepresentative regime used to buy obsolete naval vessels from the West at exorbitant prices and display these junks as a means of defence in the Persian Gulf.
Today, the Islamic Republic builds its own vessels, ranging from destroyers and frigates to speedboats, submarines, and floating naval bases that are more than a match for any intruding enemy warships, which wisely avoid any confrontation in the narrow Straits of Hormuz.
The Iranian navy is equipped with state-of-the-art vessels of all kinds and capable of deterring the devilish designs of its enemies, yet it is without the least doubt an ambassador of peace, as could be evident by participation of its ships in the St. Petersburg naval parade.
It speaks of the international might of the Iranian navy, and in the words of Iran’s Navy Chief Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi “the sailing of Iranian ships to the Gulf of Finland, the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea, is a historic event.”
He added: “This success means the opening of the gates of the North Sea and Finland to the fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army.”
It is to be noted that the Gulf of Finland extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg in Russia to the east, where the Neva River drains into it.
Now, after navigating in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the next step for the Iranian navy is expected to be the coasts of the Americas, followed by passage through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean.
Once, the Iranian navy achieves this distinction, it will have the honour of being the first Muslim country to circumnavigate the world, on its way back to the Persian Gulf.