![Iranian Nasr missile being fired from a navy warship [Iranian Army office/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1228451129.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Iran and its allies in the Axis of Resistance — including forces from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen — launched a coordinated naval parade on Thursday across the Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea and Makran coast, in a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza ahead of International Quds Day.
Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, said that 3,000 vessels participated in the display, calling it a symbol of resistance and defiance against Israel.
“We will not only fight on land. We are also ready in the sea and you will have no way to escape,” he declared, adding that the IRGC would “turn the sea into hell for the Zionists and eliminate Israel from the face of the world.”
Live footage shows a massive naval parade underway in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in a show of solidarity with Gaza. pic.twitter.com/KAwZ6eepV1
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The parade included the Shahid Bagheri drone carrier, the Raees Ali Delvari warship, and Tareq-class missile boats. The event featured the burning of the Israeli flag and the display of Palestinian flags across the naval formation.
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IRGC Second Admiral Mehdi Hashemi said that the joint action included memorials for martyrs of the resistance and was coordinated with partners in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. He stated that, “Freedom-loving nations and the resistance front… will fight until the eradication of the Zionist regime.”
Tangsiri emphasised that Quds Day “symbolises uprising against oppression” and praised martyred resistance figures such as General Qasem Soleimani and Hezbollah’s Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. “Today, the resistance front has been opened… not only in the sky and on the ground, but also at sea,” he said.
According to Quds News Agency the exercise aimed primarily to demonstrate the maritime capabilities of the Axis of Resistance and to send a direct message to what it called the “infamous and oppressive Zionist regime.”
Tangsiri concluded: “We hope for God’s promise. Your art is to kill children and defenceless women, but do not scare us with death, for our martyrs will also take revenge on you.”