Iranian navy Rear Adm. Shahram Irani declared that his country has “property rights” in Antarctica, particularly the South Pole, in a newly surfaced video.

“With regard to the South Pole, we have property rights there, and they belong to the public,” Irani said in the video of a television broadcast from last fall.

He added, “Our plan is to raise the flag there, inshallah. It is not only military work but also scientific work that needs to be carried out.”

Irani said that the move would benefit Iran’s scientific community.

“Our scientists are getting ready for a joint operation, encompassing the efforts of all our people, in keeping with the guidelines of our leader, inshallah,” he said.

The Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute translated the interview on Iran’s Channel 1 television channel in late September 2023.

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Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom are currently the seven countries that have laid territorial claims on Antarctica. However, most other countries do not recognize these claims.

The country’s property rights claims in Argentina come as rising global tensions have expanded throughout the Middle East amid the Iran-backed Hamas attack in Israel and numerous attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis.