Why has Iran claimed Antarctica? Should the world worry?

Iran has declared that it owns Antarctica. The country’s naval chief Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani in September announced that Tehran has ‘property rights’ in the South Pole. “We have plan to raise our flag there and carry out military and scientific work,” Irani said. Irani’s comments were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) – a think-tank based in Washington, DC. Iran has also said it is planning to build a naval base at the South Pole. But why is Tehran claiming Antarctica? Is it a reason to worry? Let’s take a closer look: A brief look at Antarctica First, let’s take a brief look at Antarctica – the world’s southernmost and fifth largest continent. Over time, numerous countries made expeditions to Antarctica and even made territorial claims. However, on 1 December, 1959, a dozen nations signed the Antarctic Treaty, as per Britannica. The treaty, hammered out at a conference in Washington, was signed by Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the United States, and the Soviet Union. While the treaty did not deal with claims of territorial sovereignty, it did prohibit nations from constructing military bases, testing weapons and disposing radioactive waste.

The treaty did not have an expiry date, but called for a possible review of its terms in 30 years.

The nations in 1991 signed a protocol to the treaty prohibiting mineral and oil exploration for five decades. It also spelled out rules to safeguard the continent’s delicate environment. What did Iran say? “Our plan in the future is to raise the proud flag of Iran in Antarctica,” Irani, addressing the 86th flotilla, had said, according to The National. Irani made the comments during “sacred defence” week. The Diplomat quoted Irani as saying a research team would have to head to Antarctica first. “Moreover, in order to build a base, certain things that are necessary for construction must be taken into account, and the most important thing is that we must have constant contact with this base.” “We are trying to send a group to that region for environmental studies. Today, there is this self-belief, and in our opinion, this capability exists in the country.” [caption id=“attachment_13550702” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Representational image[/caption] Iran in September had also said it plans to expand its naval presence in international waters as part of efforts to boost its military and extend its reach as far as Antarctica. The comments reflect Iran’s aspirations to transform its navy into a force capable of sustained operations in the open ocean. They also are seen as a response to America’s beefed-up naval deployment near the Islamic Republic’s coasts in the Persian Gulf. “We have the capability to hoist Iran’s flag in different regions from the North Poles to the South Pole and we are preparing plans for a presence near the South Pole,” state Press TV quoted then Rear Commander Habibollah Sayyari as saying. “However, we will never enter the maritime borders of others and we will not allow anybody to enter even a centimeter into our territorial waters.” Those comments came after Sayyari said Iran aims to put warships in international waters off the US coast “within the next few years.” He also said Iran’s navy would be “present anywhere in international waters in order to safeguard the Islamic Republic’s interests.” The Iranian navy has steadily expanded its international presence since 2008 when it began patrolling in the Gulf of Aden to protect commercial vessels owned or leased by Iran against piracy. Two Iranian warships for the first time in decades traveled through the Suez Canal, extending Iran’s naval reach to the Mediterranean Sea. Now, some Iranian ships also operate in the northern Indian Ocean. What do experts say? Experts are concerned. Yonah Jeremy Bob, author of “Target Tehran” and a senior Jerusalem Post military and intelligence analyst, told Fox News Digital, “Iran’s future plans to try to expand its military presence and influence into the Antarctic would not only violate multilateral conventions on the issue, but continues the regime’s trend of aggression across the globe.” “Whether through terrorism on basically every continent or its rampant piracy in the maritime arena, the Islamic Republic continues to show why it is a danger to world stability and why Israel and the Mossad’s role in holding it back from nuclear weapons remains critical.” “Every time Tehran expands its tentacles into a new area to disrupt the rules-based order promoted by the West, the U.S. and its allies are given an additional opportunity to take the nuclear threat more seriously. Antarctica might seem a distant threat, but if the West acts as meekly as it did when Iran recently kicked out nuclear weapons inspectors, the Islamic Republic will only become further emboldened on other track,” he added. Potkin Azarmehr, an expert on Iran, added_,_ “Everything in Iran is reminiscent of the USSR in its last days before collapse. Ambitious but pointless plans by a state with completely wrong priorities. Unable to provide basic services to its people, bankrupt institutions but full of grandiose talks.” The state department reacted tersely to a query whether the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian funds held in Qatar could be used by Iran to set up a base in Antarctica. A state department spokesperson told Fox News Digital:

 “No. Iran’s funds held in Qatar may not be used for any activities in Antarctica.”

“Those funds can only be used to purchase humanitarian goods, meaning food, medicine, medical devices and agricultural products.” The United States in February killed senior commander Abu Baqir al-Saadi of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq in a drone strike. The Pentagon linked al-Saadi to an attack that killed three US troops in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border in January. Iraq and Syria have witnessed near-daily tit-for-tat attacks between hardline Iran-backed armed groups and U.S. forces stationed in the region since the Gaza war began in October. The US has also hit Iran-backed Iraqi groups in Iraq and Syria. With inputs from agencies