TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Navy’s flotilla of warships ended its mission in the Gulf of Aden, and returned home on Sunday.
The Navy’s 25th fleet of warships, comprised of Alborz missile warship and Larak logistic ship docked in Iran’s Southern port city of Bandar Abbas after successfully conducting a 60-day mission of providing safe passage for Iranian shipping lines in the Gulf of Aden, Bab el-Mandeb and the Red Sea.
The Iranian Navy dispatched its 25th flotilla of warships to the Gulf of Aden and the high seas in early April to protect the country’s cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.
The 25th fleet intercepted 540 military and non-military vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden during its mission.
The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.
According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.
The Gulf of Aden – which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea – is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.
Via: http://english.farsnews.com/
