Navy Chief: U.S. Must Leave Region

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – There is no place for American forces in the region anymore, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said.

“Today, the era of American free action in the region is over, and they (U.S. forces) must leave the region gradually,” Rear Admiral Khanzadi told reporters on Sunday on the sidelines of a joint naval exercise of Iran, Russia and China, which is underway in the Sea of Oman and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean.

“We believe that regional security does not require the presence of those (foreign) countries, and that regional countries themselves can ensure security together,” he added.

The Iranian Navy commander also expressed hope that more regional states would join Iran in the efforts to ensure security.

“We believe that maritime security definitely needs collective action,” Khanzadi added.

He went on to say that friends of Iran and those favoring regional security have welcomed the joint naval drill, while the U.S. and its proxies who seek to impose inappropriate security arrangements on the region would receive “significant messages” from the war game.

The various phases of the tactical exercises have been carried out in this maneuver successfully till now, he said.

Iran believes that maritime security is an issue that needs to be worked on collectively by countries with maritime capacity, he added.

Noting a new level of the development of relations and cooperation between the three countries of Iran, Russia, and China at their highest level is being displayed, Khanzadi said holding such military drills which are aimed at providing security in the region indicates that the participant countries have cooperated well in other aspects of politics, economics, and so on.

Referring to close cooperation of these three Asian civilizational powers, Navy Commander noted that they set the bold lines for both the region and the world by showing their cooperation not in a separate movement but in a coalition.

The security of the region will be certainly provided by regional countries, he said, adding that Iran invites all the countries of the region to join this regional convergence and coalition for the next time.

Regional countries and our friends enthusiastically followed the joint military drills, he added, saying that good media coverage came from both inside and outside the country.

The joint drill, which is the first of such cooperation with Iran since the 1979 victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution with two major world naval powers at this scale showed that the efforts, investment, and sanctions for isolating Iran have not only worked but have also led to the convergence and unity of regional powers, he added.