An Iranian navy destroyer sails across the Atlantic escorted by a support ship on a rare mission far from the Islamic Republic, state television reported Thursday, without indicating the destination of the ships.
The voyage of the brand new Iranian-built destroyer Sahand and the intelligence vessel Makram comes amid reports in the US press that the ships were headed for Venezuela. The reports are based on anonymous sources and the Associated Press could not immediately confirm the destination of the ships.
The ships sailed last month from the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, said Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the deputy army chief. He described the mission as the longest and most difficult of the Iranian navy's voyages, without giving details.
State television showed a short video of the destroyer navigating the Atlantic waters. The video was almost certainly taken from the Makran, an adapted oil tanker with a mobile helicopter platform.
"The navy is improving its navigation capabilities and demonstrating its durability in unfavorable seas and unfavorable weather conditions in the Atlantic," Sayyari said, adding that the vessels would not dock at any port during the mission.
Satellite images from Maxar Technologies dated April 28 appear to show seven fast attack helicopters usually associated with the Revolutionary Guard on the deck of the Makran. Images from Planet Labs indicate that the ship sailed from Bandar Abbas sometime after April 29. It was not clear where the two ships were now.
The Political portal was the first to report in May, citing anonymous sources, that the destination could be Venezuela. Iran has close ties to President Nicolás Maduro and has shipped gasoline and other products to the South American country amid the US sanctions campaign against the government in Caracas.
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