Iran Navy monitoring enemy moves

The commander of the Iranian Navy says Iran keeps a watchful eye on all naval moves of the enemies and is fully informed about all their military actions.

“Any minor enemy move in the sea is being monitored by the country’s naval forces deployed in international waters,” Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told the Mehr news agency on Monday.

He added that the United States seeks to increase it naval presence in the Persian Gulf and deploy more military forces in the region.

Warships of the Iranian Navy have been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for more than 20,000 vessels traveling annually between Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

However, attacks by heavily armed Somali pirates on speedboats have compelled some of the world’s largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and reroute cargo vessels around southern Africa, leading to a rise in shipping costs.

On Saturday, the Iranian Navy’s 13th Fleet — the Tonb and Delvar warships — returned from a 44-day mission in the Gulf of Aden.

“The 13th Fleet covered 1,215 nautical miles during its mission, which showed the preparedness and capability of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s naval forces,” the commander of the Iranian Navy’s Southern Fleet, Rear Admiral Ebrahim Ashkan, said.