Iran accuses UK of blocking anti-piracy cooperation

Tehran criticizes British opposition to the Iranian Navy’s collaboration with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in bringing security to international waters.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called on secretary general Efthimios Mitropoulos to “help resolve such obstacles and provide appropriate facilities” to the Iranian Navy.

“The security of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman should be spread to the Gulf of Aden,” Mottaki said in a Monday meeting with Mitropoulos in Tehran, IRIBNews reported.

He also added that the Islamic Republic is ready to help establish security in international waterways.

The Iranian navy deployed its third naval mission to the Gulf of Aden earlier this month to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia.

The country’s second anti-piracy mission ended in September, after keeping a watchful eye on 2,279 commercial ships and oil tankers and escorting 21 vessels.

Mitropoulos described the cooperation between Iran and the IMO in fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden as “constructive and beneficial.”

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has led to attacks on more than 200 ships over the past 17 months, with many ships and crew members being taken hostage for large ransoms.

International concerns over the issue have prompted many nations to dispatch warships to the region in an attempt to protect merchant ships in one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.