TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari voiced pleasure in the success of the first Larak-class logistic combat warship sent on a mission in the high seas, and stressed that the navy will further expand its activities in free waters.
“We used logistic combat warships for the first time in our naval voyages and observed that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Larak-class warship which was part of the Navy’s 25th flotilla (sent to a mission in the Gulf of Aden) carried out its mission successfully,” Sayyari said on Sunday in a ceremony to welcome back home Iranian Navy forces sailing with the country’s 25th flotilla of warships.
“Of course, this shows that we can use other similar warships in free and international waters,” he added.
Sayyari said that in the current Iranian year which started on March 21, the Navy will send more flotillas of warships to farther waters and oceans to display Iran’s greatness and its military power to the world.
Early April, the Iranian Navy dispatched its 25th flotilla of warships to the Gulf of Aden and the high seas to protect the country’s cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.
The 25th fleet of warships, comprised of Alborz missile warship and Larak logistic ship, left the Army’s first naval zone for a mission in the high seas after the 24th flotilla returned home.
The Iranian flotilla is tasked with patrolling the Gulf of Aden to provide security for Iran’s shipping lines and to also take Iran’s message of peace, friendship and consolidation of regional cooperation to the regional nations.
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/
