Iran to deploy warships to Atlantic: media

Iran is to deploy its newest warship to the Atlantic Ocean on a five-month mission -- the navy's longest in a decade, the conservative Fars news agency reported yesterday.

"The navy has had a plan to deploy a flotilla to the Atlantic Ocean for a few years and now everything seems prepared to launch the mission," said Fars, which is considered close to Iran's military.

Rear Admiral Touraj Hassani-Moghadam told the official IRNA news agency on Friday that the mission would start early in the next Iranian year, which begins in late March.

The flotilla will comprise the new guided missile frigate destroyer escort Sahand, which was unveiled just last month, and the recently upgraded 33,000-ton fuel ship Kharg.

The vessels are expected to dock in a friendly Latin American country such as Venezuela, Fars said.

The ships are among Iran's largest and both are capable of carrying helicopters.

The Sahand is a radar-evading stealth ship capable of electronic warfare, Rear-Admiral Alireza Sheikhi told IRNA last month.

Meanwhile, Tehran yesterday claimed it has potential buyers of its oil despite US sanctions.

The United States withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran last year and snapped sanctions in place to choke Iran's oil and banking industries, while temporarily allowing eight customers to keep buying crude from the Islamic Republic.

Iran said China, India, Japan, South Korea and other countries that were granted waivers from America to import Iranian oil are not willing to buy more oils than the sanctions permit.

However, without giving details, Zamaninia said: "Despite US pressures on Iranian oil market, the number of potential buyers of Iranian oil has significantly increased due to a competitive market, greed and pursuit of more profit."

The 180-day exemptions were also granted to Italy, Greece, Taiwan and Turkey.