Iranian media today widely reported – Tehran Times, PressTV, Fars – that what it calls its 27th fleet had docked at Port Sudan along the Red Sea. The fleet includes the helicopter carrier Khark (also spelled Kharg) and frigate Sabalan – both British-built – and had previously visited China. The Khark has been in the theater before, and in 2011 continued through the Suez Canal to Syria.

PressTV contextualized the event by boasting that “in recent years, Iran’s Navy has been increasing its presence in international waters.”

Iranian military officials earlier this year announced that Tehran would deepen cooperation with the Sudanese navy. Reuters notes that today’s docking will be viewed dimly by Gulf nations:

Two Iranian warships will dock in Sudan on Wednesday, a Sudanese military spokesman said, the third such visit in less than a year, underlining the close ties between the two countries which are viewed with suspicion by Gulf Arab countries and the West.

Iran’s efforts to project power beyond the Persian Gulf have, more generally, generated calls by U.S. Gulf allies for Washington to deepen its commitment to the region. That the U.S.’s naval presence is undergoing budget-driven cuts has served only to heighten unease.

Meanwhile Gulf countries have become increasingly vocal in criticizing Iran for seeking to foment instability across region and for pressing territorial claims against its Arab neighbors.

[Photo: 73javad / Wiki Commons]