Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian navy, announced on Tuesday that his country was planning on deploying ships close to US territorial waters. The Irna news agency reported that Admiral Sayyari said “As the global oppression [the US] is present not far from our maritime border, our navy is going to have a strong presence not far from US territorial waters”. The comments come as a high-ranking Iranian official appeared to reject the US request to establish a “red phone” link between the two governments in order to avoid further confrontation. According to press reports Ali Fadavi, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, said “When we are in the Gulf of Mexico, we will establish direct contact with the United States”. Since last year, Iranian military vessels have increased their presence in international waters. Iran regularly launched vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates, whilst officials announced in July that a Kilo class submarine had completed an inaugural mission in the Indian Ocean. In addition, Iran sent two vessels into the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal for the first time in February, which aggravated Israel and the United States.
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