On February 26, two Iranian warships docked in Rio de Janeiro, where they remained for a week—despite the Brazilian president Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva’s assurances to the U.S. that he would prevent them from doing so. Emanuele Ottolenghi explains the significance of the Islamic Republic’s naval mission to Brazil:
Lula has much to gain by standing up to America. He can burnish his credentials as a prominent leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, wresting that mantle away from his lesser regional competitors—Venezuela’s Maduro, Colombia’s Petro, and the Hernandez duo in Argentina. He can stoke feelings of national pride and bank on resentment for the “imperio del norte,” the northern empire, as many refer to America in the region. And he can forge a foreign policy of engagement with countries, like Iran, that seek to displace America’s influence in the region in favor of a multipolar world dominated by competing powers like Russia and China.
Tehran too greatly benefits from the visit. For decades, it has aspired to play a role in the Western Hemisphere, chiefly through soft-power influence operations and by cementing strategic relationships with anti-American regimes such as Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. And while its forays into Venezuela have yielded Tehran both a gateway to and a forward operating base in Latin America, making strides with countries traditionally within the sphere of U.S. political, military, and economic influence has been much more difficult.
The presence of two Iranian warships at Brazil’s iconic waterfront city is also meant to warn both the U.S. and Israel. For years, Iran has begrudged America’s regional presence and its role as the gendarme of the Gulf. Iran’s intended message is clear: we can poke you in your backyard, much like you poke us in ours. Iran’s puny blue-water fleet is currently no match for the U.S. But establishing bilateral relations with other navies around the world will help Iran expand its capabilities.
After Brazil, Iran’s navy task force will continue its voyage in the region, likely seeking to cross the Panama Canal. Arm-twisting Panama after nothing happened to Brazil is not in the cards. Besides, If Brazil faces no adverse consequences, more missions will return to build on this initial success.
Read more on Dispatch: https://thedispatch.com/article/a-warning-to-the-u-s-from-brazil-and-iran/