The fifth Martyr Lieutenant General Haj Qassem Soleimani fleet of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy headed by Shahid Mahdavi warship 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 on Saturday.
Commenting on the mission of the IRGC warship, Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the IRGC Navy said on Sunday that, “For the first time, the forces of the IRGC Navy were able to cross the Equator following their countrymen in the Iranian army navy.” 
“During the mission, the Shahid Mahdavi crossed important and strategic straits in the world such as the Strait of Malacca and the Equator and entered the US 5th Fleet district and the US Navy’s 7th Fleet district,” Tangsiri said. 
“During the mission, the ship for the first time went near the island of Diego Garcia, where the American forces were stationed,” he added.
MNA/TSNM3088429