Commander: Iran’s Fleet of Warships Arrives in Red Sea

Iran has dispatched a flotilla of warships to the high seas, including the Red Sea, to protect the country’s cargo ships and oil tankers against pirate attacks, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said.
“The 29th flotilla of warship is moving towards the Gulf of Aden and has entered the Red Sea,” Sayyari told FNA on Saturday.

Asked about Iran’s presence in the Atlantic Ocean, he said, “That will be done.”

“As the trans-regional states are now present in the free waters of the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf and, of course, we don’t allow their entrance in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s territorial waters at all, we can also be present in the world free waters without entering other countries’ territorial waters.”

Earlier this month, Sayyari confirmed the voyage of Iranian warships in the Atlantic Ocean, underlining that Iran is entitled to the right to send its troops to international waters.

“All countries, including Iran, are entitled to the right to be present in the free waters, and we don’t seek to violate any country’s territorial waters,” Sayyari said.

“The Army’s fleet of warships is now in the Gulf of Aden and they are moving towards the Atlantic Ocean,” he said on February 11.

Senior Iranian Navy commanders announced this month that the country has sent several fleets of warships to the US maritime borders.

“The Iranian Army’s naval fleets have already started their voyage towards the Atlantic Ocean via the waters near South Africa,” Commander of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad announced.

The admiral, who is also the commander of the Iranian Army’s 4th Naval Zone, said, “Iran’s military fleet is approaching the United States’ maritime borders, and this move has a message.”

The Iranian navy has been developing its presence in international waters since 2010, regularly launching vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates operating in the area.