New Regime In Brazil Makes Odd Choice Regarding Warships From Iran

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the new extremely leftist president of Brazil, has recently allowed a pair of warships sailing from the Islamic Republic of Iran, to pull into and dock in Rio De Janeiro this past weekend, spawning extreme fears about just how close a current adversary to the U.S. is operating to American shorelines.

The port authority for the city has stated that both the IRIS Dena and IRIS Makran naval warships docked at the port as of this past weekend.

Brazil, notably, did not allow the ships to dock at the port just last month when Lula made the flights to Washington, D.C., to speak with President Joe Biden, Reuters stated in a report.

And now, with Lula back from his trip up to D.C., officials in Brazil have given the go-ahead to the ships to sail in and dock at the port for a period of 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,” explained U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley as part of a press conference that was recently held. “Brazil is a sovereign nation, but we firmly believe those ships should not dock anywhere.”

A response was also issued by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to the news of the ships docking so easily in a port in the Western Hemisphere by highlighting just what kind of danger this kind of thing represents to the American public.

“The docking of Iranian warships in Brazil is a dangerous development and a direct threat to the safety and security of Americans,” stated Cruz. “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,” expressed Cruz. “If the administration does not, Congress should force them to do so.”

These Iranian warships seem to be planning to sail quite a bit closer to the U.S., as expressed in a statement from Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, the commander of Iran’s Navy, who expressed just last month that Iran’s navy plans “to be present in the Panama Canal.”

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