Iranian Terror Regime to Station Warships Within Striking Distance of US

ANALYSIS – In an unprecedented move, the Iranian terror regime in Tehran has announced it will be stationing warships in the Panama Canal Zone later this year. This would put the Iranian military within striking distance of American waters and vital trade routes.

This follows earlier moves last year where Iran sent oil tankers to Venezuela, which at one point the U.S. may have threatened to stop.

In 2020, the United States seized Iranian petroleum bound for Venezuela aboard four tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, enforcing a forfeiture order aimed at both Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Caracas government.

In June 2021, Iranian warships headed to Venezuela, possibly loaded with weapons, changed course and went to Africa instead, likely after pressure from the U.S.

This latest announced move into America’s backyard is also likely a test and, if allowed, will reinforce Iran’s links to terror groups already operating in the region, such as Hezbollah, and expand its ability to create turmoil for the U.S. in times of crisis.

Hezbollah militants are known to travel freely in the failed socialist state of Venezuela and across the relatively lawless Tri-Border Area that includes Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Iran’s growing presence in Latin America also serves to bolster and protect its interests in rogue anti-American countries like Venezuela, where Iran has been helping the country’s illegitimate leader, Nicolás Maduro repair his country’s self-destroyed oil industry.

The two rogue regimes signed a 20-year cooperation plan in June 2022, when hardline Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi was in the country for meetings with Maduro.

Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, the commander of Iran’s navy, said this would be the first time Iran’s military has fully entered the Pacific Ocean, meaning it may be looking at stationing its ships on Panama’s west coast.

The Washington Free Beacon reported:

Iran in recent years has placed a greater focus on moving its military into Latin American territories as it strengthens relations with anti-American dictators in the region, most notably in Venezuela. Iranian vessels have docked more frequently in Venezuela as Tehran’s hardline regime seeks to prop up dictator Nicolás Maduro. These moves are meant to provoke the United States and signal that Tehran has the ability to station its military apparatus a stone’s throw from U.S. territory.

Joseph Humire, a national security analyst who focuses on Latin American issues as executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society think tank, said Iran has been laying the groundwork for this type of voyage by holding joint exercises with allies such as Russia and China, two nations that have also been strengthening their ties with Latin American countries.

“This is what Iran has been building in Latin America for the past 30 or 40 years” by establishing embassies and bilateral agreements with a host of nations, Humire said.

Iran’s goal “has always been to have a military presence in Latin America, so it’s not surprising at all for its navy to announce it’s going to make moves on the Panama Canal,” Humire said, noting that in addition to Venezuela and Nicaragua, Iran has opened relations with Colombia.

It is yet to be seen if the U.S. will permit this provocative Iranian military move, or where in Panama these warships might be based.

Let’s hope Team Biden will show some previously unseen cojones and put a stop to this before it happens.

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