New leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva allowed the Islamic Republic of Iran to dock two warships in Rio de Janeiro over the weekend, sparking fears about how close a U.S. adversary is operating near America’s shores.
The city’s port authority said in a statement that the IRIS Makran and IRIS Dena naval vessels docked at the port on Sunday.
Brazil did not allow the ships to dock at the port last month when Lula flew to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Joe Biden, Reuters reported.
With Lula now back from D.C., Brazilian officials gave the ships permission to dock at the port from February 26 until March 4.
“In the past, those ships facilitated illegal trade and terrorist activities, and have also been sanctioned by the United States,” U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley said at a press conference earlier this month. “Brazil is a sovereign nation, but we firmly believe those ships should not dock anywhere.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) responded to the news that the ships had docked in a Western Hemisphere port by explaining the danger that the situation represents to Americans.
“The docking of Iranian warships in Brazil is a dangerous development and a direct threat to the safety and security of Americans,” Cruz said. “These Iranian warships are already sanctioned, and so the port in Rio de Janeiro where they docked is now at risk of crippling sanctions, as are any Brazilian companies that provided them services or accepted payments—and so are all foreign companies that entangle themselves with the port or those Brazilian companies in the future.”
“The Biden administration is obligated to impose relevant sanctions, reevaluate Brazil’s cooperation with U.S. antiterrorism efforts, and reexamine whether Brazil is maintaining effective antiterrorism measures at its ports,” Cruz added. “If the administration does not, Congress should force them to do so.”
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Iranian warships plan to get even closer to the U.S., according to the commander of Iran’s Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, who said last month that Iran’s navy plans “to be present in the Panama Canal.”
Joseph Humire, the executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), told The Washington Free Beacon that 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. … This is a tremendous escalation if it is to happen. Many people may discount Iran in terms of its capabilities … but I would not discount it because they have been building to this for a very long time.”