WASHINGTON, USA (FOLHAPRESS) – The Iranian warships that docked in Rio de Janeiro over the weekend are “a direct threat to the security of Americans”, and the United States must impose new sanctions and reassess the actions of the Luiz Inácio government This Tuesday (28), Lula da Silva (PT) defended Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
The Brazilian Navy authorized the ships Iris Makran and Iris Dena, from Iran, to dock in the Port of Rio de Janeiro from February 26th to March 4th. The authorization, in the same week that the special envoy for climate and former Secretary of State, John Kerry, is in the country, irritated the Americans, who had been pressing for the Brazilian government not to release the docking. The Iranian regime is the target of Washington sanctions.
As Folha de S.Paulo showed, Brazil, which had already authorized the arrival of the vessels in January, gave in to pressure in early February, when Lula traveled to the USA to meet with the American president, Joe Biden, and pushed the mooring at the end of the month.
On the last 15th, the US ambassador in Brasília, Elizabeth Bagley, told journalists that Brazil should not receive the ships. “These ships have, in the past, facilitated illicit trade and terrorist activities and have had UN sanctions. Brazil is a sovereign country, but we strongly believe that these ships should not dock anywhere.”
But the boats arrived on Sunday, and this Tuesday Senator Ted Cruz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees, reacted. He criticized President Lula, whom he called a “Chavista aligned against the US”, and stated that both the Port of Rio de Janeiro and any company that does business with the port could be penalized.
“The US has anti-terrorism sanctions and laws designed exactly to deter and respond to these threats,” he said. “These Iranian warships are already under sanctions and therefore the port of Rio de Janeiro where they docked is now at risk of crippling sanctions, as well as any Brazilian companies that provided services to them or accepted payments – and also all foreign companies that become involved with the port or with these Brazilian companies in the future.”
Cruz also defended that the American laws against terrorism be applied in the case. “The Biden administration is obligated to impose relevant sanctions, re-evaluate Brazil’s cooperation with US counter-terrorism efforts, and re-examine whether Brazil is maintaining effective counter-terrorism measures in its ports. If the administration fails to do so, Congress must compel it to do it”.
Although there is strong diplomatic pressure from the United States for Latin American countries to deny this type of permission to the Iranian Navy, Itamaraty adopts the principle of not recognizing unilateral sanctions, only those approved by the UN Security Council (United Nations). In that sense, there would be no reason to deny Tehran’s request.