Baku, Azerbaijan, April 8
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said that the Islamic Republic's 34th fleet has started a journey to the Gulf of Aden and Bab el-Mandeb.
Sayyari said that the fleet consists of the logistics ship Bushehr and the Alborz destroyer.
He stated that the fleet's mission is to secure Iran's shipping lines and safeguard the Islamic Republic's interests in the free waters, IRNA news agency reported April 8.
The commander added that the fleet has also been commissioned to wave the Iranian flag in northern Indian Ocean and fight pirates.
"Iranian warships will remain there for three month to defend Iran's interests," he added.
Deploying Iran's warships came while Saudi Arabia-led coalition has started strikes over Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels' positions in Yemen.
Iran is against any foreign raid to Yemen.
Earlier in March sources claimed that Egyptian warships had warned off Iran's 33th fleet out of the Gulf of Aden.
Senior editor of Saudi online paper Arab News, Siraj Wahab, on March 26 tweeted that Egyptian ships forced the Iranian fleet out of Bab Al-Mandab strait near the Port of Aden.
That day Sayyari rejected the reports. The 33th fleet arrived home last week after 77 days on the sea.
The Iranian fleet will not have any other fleet give it unjustified warnings, so the reports published by some "arrogant" media are false, he stated at the time.
The Gulf of Aden has been growing in sensitivity since Yemen engaged in domestic crisis. Western media and Arab states claim Iran has a hand in the developments, but Tehran denies that.