Dubai (Platts)--18Mar2011/647 am EDT/1047 GMT
Iran has dispatched a naval fleet on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, aimed at guarding Iranian oil tankers and trade ships in the region, official news agency IRNA reported Friday. The fleet, which includes the Tonb and Delvar naval vessels, was dispatched Thursday evening to the Gulf of Aden on a two-month mission to provide security for Iran's merchant and oil tanker ships in the area as well as the north Indian Ocean, naval forces commander Fariborz Ghaderpanah was quoted as saying. The region is a major maritime route for international trade, as well as a notorious haven for Somali pirates, who are known to regularly hijack ships for ransom in the area using high-powered speedboats. Previous Iranian fleets sent to the north Indian Ocean over the past two years have been able to disrupt pirate activity in the restive Gulf of Aden, Ghaderpanah said, adding that two other warships that recently set sail for the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal had accomplished their mission. In late February, the two Iranian vessels, a frigate and a logistics-fuel vessel, said to be on a training mission, entered the Mediterranean Sea after passing along the Suez Canal for the first time in over 30 years. Two Iranian oil tankers have been rescued from pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden since the start of the current year.--Staff report, newsdesk@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Oilgram News. See more information at http://bit.ly/OilgramNews