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The two countries both of them facing severe U.S. sanctions have developed closer ties over the last few years, with cooperation ranging from gasoline shipments to joint car and cement factory projects.

Senior officials in President Nicols Maduros government in Caracas have been advised that welcoming the Iranian warships would be a mistake, according to a person familiar with the discussions. But its not clear whether Maduro has heeded that warning: At one point on Thursday, U.S. military officials understood the ships had turned around, but as of Friday morning they were still steaming south, one of the people said.

Lawmakers privy to the most sensitive intelligence information were informed over the past few days that the U.S. believed the Iranian ships may be heading toward Venezuela, but cautioned that the destination could change, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The mere presence of Iranian warships in Americas backyard would represent a challenge to U.S. authority in the region and would likely inflame the debate in Washington over President Joe Bidens decision to re-open negotiations with Tehran.

Iranian media has claimed the 755-foot long Makran, which was commissioned this year, can serve as a platform for electronic warfare and special operations missions, and Iranian officials have boasted of the ships missile and weapons capabilities. It is able to carry six to seven helicopters, as well as drones, they have said.

A spokesperson for the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry declined to comment. A spokesperson at the Iranian Mission to the U.N. declined to comment. And White House and Pentagon spokespersons declined to comment.

The timing of Irans apparent westward foray is especially inopportune for those hoping for a lowering of tensions with Tehran.

Since entering office, Biden has explored rejoining the 2015 agreement to curb Irans nuclear program, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which his predecessor Donald Trump abandoned in 2018. Those talks are ongoing in Vienna. The recent fighting between Israel and the militant group Hamas, long backed by Iran, also has fueled criticism from Republican lawmakers about the wisdom of re-entering the JCPOA.

Successive governments in Tehran and Caracas have made a habit of defying the United States, with whom each country has a complex history. The Venezuelan government was one of the first to recognize the Islamic Republic after the 1979 overthrow of the shah, a U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Tehran regularly objects to the presence of U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf region, and it has previously threatened to make a similar show of force in Americas backyard but never followed through.

Maduros authoritarian regime has been shunned by many countries, including its Latin American neighbors. The United States has imposed successively harsher rounds of sanctions that have punished an economy already wracked by mismanagement, corruption and Covid. Iran is one of Venezuelas few close allies.

As Venezuelas oil refining sector has collapsed in recent years, the Islamic Republic has sent multiple fuel tankers to the country to help with crippling gas shortages. In exchange, Venezuelas government has supplied Tehran with much-needed cash and helped it build relationships in Latin America.

U.S. officials have watched those ties blossom with varying levels of concern.

In December, the top commander of U.S. troops in Central and South America described Irans growing military presence in Venezuela as alarming. In comments reported by The Wall Street Journal, Adm. Craig Faller, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, said the presence of personnel from Irans elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force is particularly concerning.

The Trump administration designated the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization in 2019, and killed its Quds Force commander, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, last year in an airstrike in Iraq.

Last summer, U.S. authorities seized four ships carrying cargo from Iran to Venezuela, as the Journal reported. At one point on their journey, those ships and five others were traveling with an Iranian naval intelligence ship, U.S. officials told the paper. The ships did not reach Venezuela.

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U.S. monitoring Iranian warships that may be headed to Venezuela - POLITICO