A flotilla of the Iranian Navy will start a trip to the Atlantic Ocean starting from 21 March 2019, according to what was declared by the commander of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Touraj Hassani Moqaddam, in an interview released to the press agency "Irna". According to the senior officer, the journey will last at least five months and a circumnavigation of the globe is planned. Hassani has revealed that the ship will also take part in the ship Sahand, the new generation Moudge destroyer that was launched last December 1st. The presence of Sahand in missions in international waters was anticipated last November by the deputy commander of the Iranian Navy, Habibollah Sayyari. The Italian news agency Nova reports it.
After six years of work, last December the Sahand (name of a mountain in northern Iran) was officially launched. With a tonnage of 1.300 tons the Sahand has a helicopter landing pad, it is 96 meters long and can navigate to 25 nodes. It features air-to-air and ground-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries and sophisticated radar evading capabilities. The Moudge-class destroyer takes its name from the Sahand frigate sunk in 1988 during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). Although the Iranian Navy defines them as destroyers, Moudge class ships have a tonnage not higher than 1.500 tons which makes them closer to the modern corvettes of the western countries' marines. The only ship in service of the same class is the Jamaran. The Iranian Navy is working on four other ships: Dena, Moudge 4, Moudge 6, Moudge 7. Another boat, the Damavand, launched in the 2013 is currently being repaired after a shipwreck in a drought near the port of Bandar-Anzali on the Caspian Sea. The news however arouses concern on the part of analysts because the trip is a clear signal to the United States.