Pirates Attack Iranian Oil Tanker with 115 Armed Men in Bab al-Mandab

12 boats carrying 115 armed pirates sought to attack and capture an Iranian oil tanker, but the Iranian Navy’s Naqdi destroyer rushed to the scene of the attack after an emergency request by the oil tanker and forced the pirates to flee under its heavy fire power.

The pirates renewed their attack three hours later but the warships of the Iranian 41st fleet repelled their offensive with heavier fire power.

The oil tanker then was escorted to its final destination in a safe zone by the Iranian flotilla.

The Navy’s 41st fleet, comprising Lavan logistic warship and Shahid Naqdi destroyer, is conducting anti-piracy patrols in the high seas and Gulf of Aden.

The 41st flotilla of warships left Bandar Abbas port, in Southern Hormozgan province, for the Gulf of Aden on June 1.

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.