Iran military chief hails Navy’s ‘historic’ round-the-world mission

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Mohammad Bagheri made the comments during a welcoming ceremony on Sunday in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas along the Persian Gulf, after the flotilla finished the eight-month-long mission and returned home.

Even the countries that are rich and possess all kinds of military equipment and can potentially carry out such a mission, are not courageous enough to embark on such a mission, he said.

He hailed the Navy men for setting sail on such a “dangerous mission” using domestically-built vessels, despite all the sanctions, economic pressure and political propaganda against the country.

For his part, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said the successful mission proved that Iran and Iranians cannot be sanctioned or isolated in the world.

Admiral Irani said the Navy turned the ‘We Can’ slogan into ‘We Could.”

In the face of enemy plots, sanctions and threats, Iran’s naval forces pursue an agenda for “all-out and lasting development” and for promotion of relations with the international community, he added.