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US Unable to Stop Iranian Flotilla from Crossing Panama Canal

As the 86th flotilla of Iranian warships docked at Oman's Salalah port, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani recounted how the United States could not stop them from sailing through the Panama Canal.

Irani claimed that “global arrogance” attempted to impede the mission of the flotilla by means of threats and sanctions, yet ultimately failed to do so.

He declared to Fars news agency on Saturday that the [US] sanction was nothing more than a complaint based on international law. They were unable to stop the flotilla from sailing through the Panama Canal … This was an additional humiliation of the Great Satan.

Iran’s naval forces achieved a major milestone when the 86th flotilla, consisting of the Dena and Makran warships, embarked on a journey that took them around the world, navigating the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans without requiring any support from land. This is the first time in Iran’s navy history that such a feat has been accomplished.

After departing from Bandar Abbas in Iran on September 20, 2022, the flotilla has completed its voyage, docking at the port of Salalah in Oman on the 236th day.

The flotilla traveled a total of 65,000 kilometers, having crossed the equator four times. It is set to reach Bandar Abbas after traveling an additional 2,000 kilometers.

On February 3, 2023, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Dena and Makran warships as Iranian property, in an effort to target the country’s drone industry as part of a broader sanctions regime.

France was unaware of its own regulations which caused disruption to Iranian vessels.

In another part of his interview, the Navy commander mentioned that France had alleged that the Iranian warships had entered its territorial waters.

The French had no response when the flotilla reminded them of their own shipping regulations; however, he noted.

He explained that the French have certain islands in the Pacific Ocean, yet they had been unaware of their own regulations, resulting in disturbances for them which necessitated a response from them in the form of the language of the law.

The French never spoke of the significant setback they had recently experienced in the arena of international shipping.

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