IRGC Commander Hossein Salami declared that “the biggest exercise of our might was imposition of our will and our ships' move in free waters from the Persian Gulf to Venezuela”. Relatedly, a senior Iranian diplomat maintained that “as long as the two countries [ie, Iran and Venezuela] are determined to continue trade, certainly these exchanges will continue and if anyone tries to disturb this trend, they should know that the move will be reciprocated”.