Iran’s Navy commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says many countries are amazed by the Iranian Navy’s tactics in combating piracy on the high seas.
“Iran’s Navy has repeatedly showed the global arrogance that it has the capability to establish security and peace in the region in cooperation with regional countries,” said Iran’s Navy chief during a reception ceremony on Tuesday for the country’s 19th naval fleet returning from a mission on international waters.
He added that Iran’s naval forces have no need for foreign and trans-regional forces to establish security in the region.
Rear Admiral Sayyari emphasized that Iran’s Navy will carry out operations thousands of kilometers off the Iranian coasts whenever necessary in order to defend the country’s interests and protect the dignity of the Islamic establishment. Iranian Navy’s 19th fleet docked at Bandar Abbas port in southern Iran on Tuesday after a successful mission on international waters. The fleet was dispatched to the north of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden on March 26. Iran’s Navy has been expanding its presence in the international waters since last year, deploying vessels to the Indian Ocean and around the Horn of Africa. It also dispatched two ships via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean for the first time in February 2011. Moreover, in line with the international efforts to combat piracy, the Iranian navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to shield the vessels involved in maritime trade, especially the ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran. The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for thousands of vessels traveling annually between Asia, Europe and the Americas. However, attacks by heavily-armed Somali pirates on board speedboats have prompted some of the world’s largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and reroute cargo vessels around southern Africa, leading to climbing shipping costs. SF/GHN/MAThis article was posted by Neptune Maritime Security via presstv.com. MaritimeSecurity.Asia in cooperation with www.neptunemaritimesecurity.com
