US ‘greatly concerned’ as Iranian warships enter the Atlantic for first time to smuggle weapons to arch-rivals Venezuela

"We would reserve the right to take appropriate measures in coordination with our partners to deter the transit or delivery of such weapons."

Iran maintains close ties to Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, with the country having shipped gasoline and other products to the country amid a U.S. sanctions campaign targeting fuel-starved Caracas.

One of Maduro’s top aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, has denied press reports that the ships will be docking at Venezuela.

And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has also declined to say where the Makran was headed.

Speaking during a news conference on May 31, Khatibzadeh said: “Iran is always present in international waters and it has this right based on international law and it can be present in international waters.

“No country is able to violate this right, and I warn that no one makes miscalculations. Those who sit in glass houses should be careful.”

Questions had been raised over seven Iranian fast-attack crafts which appear to have been captured in photographs as sitting on board the deck of the Makran. 

The craft were the type the Guard uses in its encounters with U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz.

It was not clear what Venezuela’s plans would be for the ships.

“If the boats are delivered, they may form the core of an asymmetrical warfare force within Venezuela’s armed forces,” the U.S. Naval Institute said in an earlier published analysis. 

“This could be focused on disrupting shipping as a means of countering superior naval forces. Shipping routes to and from the Panama Canal are near the Venezuelan coast.”

The odd voyage comes ahead of Iran’s presidential election, on June 18.

The election will see voters select a successor for the relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani.