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We are sending a message to the Americans that we can reach you as close as possible,” said Lieutenant General Haji Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Fifth Fleet of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. Report More.
“After the United States imposed sanctions on the IRGC Navy, we had to prove that the IRGC Navy is not just a coastal force but is capable of providing heavy vessels of various types that will allow it to hold its own in international waters,” Colonel Soleimani said on Monday.
He added that the naval fleet, with the domestically-made ocean-going warship INS Shahid Mahdavi as its flagship, began its mission from Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, where the United States killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander.
“This sends an important message to the United States,” he stressed, according to PressTV. He added that during the mission, the Shahid Mahdavi warship passed through important strategic straits in the world, including the Strait of Malaga. The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said that the Iranian fleet crossed the equator and entered the area of the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet.
The ship approached Diego Garcia for the first time, one of the most important US bases in the Indian Ocean, and returned successfully after a 39-day voyage.
“We are sending a message to the Americans that we are able to reach the closest point to you,” Soleimani said. The Iranian commander reiterated the “absolutely professional” nature of the mission and said: “We have no intention of provoking any tension.”
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