Following the US, Israel criticizes Brazil for anchoring Iranian ships.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat called the Brazilian docking of warships a "dangerous and regrettable development."
Sputnik - It's not just the United States that is bothered by the entry of Iranian vessels into Brazil; Israel has also criticized the docking permits granted by the Brazilian government and asked Brasília to send them away.
On Thursday (2), Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat called the Brazilian anchoring of warships a "dangerous and regrettable development".
"It's not too late to order the ships to leave the port," Haiat said, according to Reuters.
Tel Aviv is still urging Brazil to "follow in the footsteps" of the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan and call it "[...] a terrorist entity," reports O Globo.
"Brazil should not award any prize to an evil state responsible for countless human rights violations against its own citizens [...]" says the statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
The comments from the Jewish state echo recent statements from Washington regarding the ships.
On Tuesday (28), Republican Senator Ted Cruz said that the Biden administration should reassess Brazil's cooperation with US "counterterrorism efforts" and understand that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is "aligned against the interests of the United States."
Previously, the US ambassador in Brasilia, Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, said that Washington views with "great concern" the possibility of Iranian vessels anchoring in Brazilian waters, as reported.
The Iranian ships, the helicopter carrier IRIS Makran and the frigate IRIS Dena, arrived in Brazil on Sunday morning (26) and are expected to remain in the port of Rio de Janeiro until March 4.
Previously, the vessels were scheduled to dock in Rio in January of this year, having received the green light from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Navy. However, after a date change requested by Tehran and an analysis that the request was intended to provoke the United States, Brazil vetoed the ships' entry.
Following Lula's trip to Washington, they were then cleared to dock in Brazilian waters.