The New Zealand Defense Force says it is aware of two Iranian warships operating in the Pacific.
But the vessels are globally deployed and do not fall within Aotearoa’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a Pentagon spokeswoman said.
Iran said the historic operation showed the expansion of the Islamic State’s military strength and maritime territory.
“The NZDF will continue to monitor maritime movements in the Pacific as part of its routine operations,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
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New Zealand has issued a travel ban to Iran that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said would punish Iranian security force members for “protests and violent suppression of human rights”.
The September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody has thrown Iran into turmoil.
NZDF/Provided
The NZDF said it monitors maritime movements in the Pacific as part of its routine operations.
Amini was detained by a specialized police force that enforced the strict dress code mandated for women in the immediate aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Ardern called Amini’s death “unforgivable” and condemned the “brutal crackdown on protesters who only claim basic universal rights”.
In November, an Iranian frigate with a converted oil tanker docked in Jakarta before heading to the Pacific.
However, the Australian Defense Force said neither vessel was in the stage of entering Australia’s EEZ.
In a statement, a defense spokesperson said Australia had been aware of two Iranian warships operating in the Indo-Pacific for some time.
“As part of Australia’s broader government-wide maritime border protection efforts, the Department of Defense regularly monitors maritime traffic in the exclusive economic zone and near sea approaches,” said an ADF spokesperson. rice field.
“The Iranian ships had never entered Australia’s exclusive economic zone, had never passed through the Torres Strait, and had no communication with them.”
On Christmas Day, France’s Pacific Command announced that it had made contact with an Iranian ship after it “declared its intention to pass just below the remote Marquesas Islands”.
The warship was monitored by Falcon 200 reconnaissance aircraft as it approached the EEZ of French Polynesia.
Iranian National Television/AP
Iranian Navy sailors toss an American drone overboard in the Red Sea in this frame grab from Iranian state television on Thursday, September 1, 2022. The latest maritime incident involving the US Navy’s new drone fleet in the Middle East.
The Iranian navy seized two U.S. maritime drones in the Red Sea in September before releasing them after a U.S. warship approached them, the U.S. Navy said.
Last February, two Chinese warships transited Indonesia, entered Australia’s EEZ in the Arafura Sea, and headed for the Pacific via the Torres Strait.
Unlike the Chinese ships, which aimed their powerful lasers at Australian Air Force (RAAF) patrol planes, the Iranians, after leaving Indonesia, headed for the Philippine Sea rather than heading east through Australian waters.
Maritime analysts said there was no evidence that Iranian warships made port calls while in the Pacific, but believed the fleet passed near the Solomon Islands.
IRIS Makran and IRIS Dena, which make up the Iranian Navy’s 86th Fleet, left the Islamic Republic in October for a historic global deployment.
Tehran said the warship “circumnavigates the globe during its mission to demonstrate the authority of Iran’s dear people to the whole world.”
Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said on state television last week that it was important for Iran to demonstrate its naval build-up.
“It’s authority that counts. Being at sea means power and authority,” the Navy Secretary said.
“The first message sent by frigates and submarines is that the nations that built them have acquired the knowledge they need to rule the seas.”
Singapore-based geopolitical analyst Patrick Dupont said the presence of Iranian warships near the Pacific and Australia was not surprising. He expected more visits.
“It’s well known that Iran is an isolated underdog. Basically, they need friends in the Middle East as well as internationally,” Dupont told ABC.
“They want to know how far they can go, but in reality their focus will always be on the Persian Gulf and that will be their main effort in terms of naval strategic planning.”
