Iran can ensure Indian Ocean security against pirates: Cmdr.

Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says the Islamic Republic has the capability to establish security in the Indian Ocean against pirates.

“We maintain complete control over pirates and sail our ships safely across the seas, and we are capable of establishing security in the Indian Ocean against pirates,” Sayyari said on Saturday.

Iran’s Navy has been expanding its naval presence in the international waters since last year, deploying vessels to the Indian Ocean. The Islamic Republic dispatched two ships via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean for the first time in February 2011.

In addition, 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 safeguard 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.

Sayyari emphasized that the entire world is currently threatening Iran but no one dares put the threats into action because they know that an attack on the Islamic Republic would bear no result.

Israel has recently stepped up threats of carrying out a unilateral strike against Iran’s nuclear energy facilities.

The threats are based on the unsubstantiated claims that the peaceful nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic have been diverted toward military purposes.