The fifth Martyr Lieutenant General Haj Qassem Soleimani fleet of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has returned home after completing a mission that lasted for 39 days to complete and took it over the line of zero degrees latitude, the Equator, and into the Southern Hemisphere.

The naval fleet, with domestically-developed Shahid Mahdavi oceangoing warship acting as the flagship, berthed in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday after traveling thousands of kilometers in international waters.

“This is the first time that the courageous servicemen of the IRGC Navy have been able to cross the Equator, and enter the Southern Hemisphere,” Commander of the IRGC Navy, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, said as he addressed a ceremony to welcome the arrival of the fleet.

He described the unison and synergy between the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the key to such achievements, stressing that the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the IRGC Navy, thanks to faith in God, steely determination as well as sophisticated and deterrent military capabilities, have turned into an absolute nightmare for regional and trans-regional enemies. 

“Thank God, the visible manifestation of unity, brotherhood, empathy and companionship between the heroic Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the IRGC Navy has always brought Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei] satisfaction, and drove enemies to despair,” Tangsiri pointed out.

The commander of the IRGC Navy further underscored that the presence of servicemen from his force and the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy in high seas has opened up new horizons for the Iranian naval units.

The Shahid Mahdavi, which is a multipurpose vessel designed for long-range operations, sailed into the Southern Hemisphere on May 3.

The 2,100-tonne vessel, which is 240 meters in length and 27 meters in width, joined the IRGC’s naval fleet in March 2023.

The oceangoing warship is equipped with a three-dimensional phased array radar, sea-to-sea and sea-to-air missiles, and sophisticated telecommunication systems for electronic warfare.

The Shahid Mahdavi is capable of carrying various types of attack helicopters, combat drones as well as fast attack craft. 

In February 2024, the IRGC Navy launched two ballistic missiles from inside two containers on board the warship.