Iran Navy submarines return home

Iran’s Navy submarines have returned home after they successfully conducted maritime surveillance operations and identified the warships of other countries in international waters.

The submarines, sailing alongside warships belong to the 14th fleet of the Iranian Navy, returned home on Monday following their nearly two-month-long mission in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Fars News Agency reported.

Iranian submarines entered the waters of the Red Sea on June 7 and joined the 14th fleet of warships.

The deployment of Iranian military submarines in the Red Sea was the first such operation by the Iranian Navy in distant waters.

Iran has deployed warships in the Red Sea to combat Somali pirates.

Rampant piracy off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia has made the waters among the most dangerous in terms of pirate activities.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with 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 prompted some of the world’s largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and reroute cargo vessels around southern Africa, leading to rising shipping costs.