Iran deploys home-made destroyer in red sea

Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Seyed Mahmoud Moussavi announced that the country's first home-made destroyer, 'Jamaran', would soon be dispatched to missions in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden."Jamaran destroyer in its first offshore mission will enter the Red Sea after passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait," Moussavi told FNA on Monday, adding that the destroyer will be part of Iran's 16th naval flotilla to be dispatched to the region. Moussavi described guarding the security of Iran's shipping line in the Red Sea as the main mission of the Iranian flotilla, and said Jamaran would carry helicopters to the region and would operate as a platform for chopper missions. The Iranian Navy dispatched the 16th flotilla of its warships, including Jamaran, to the Gulf of Aden after the 15th flotilla, comprising Alvand and Bushehr destroyers, came back home earlier this month.Admiral Moussavi said Jamaran would join the 16th flotilla on a voyage to the Gulf of Aden via the Red Sea. Iran's first home-made destroyer, Jamaran, was launched in late February 2010. The Mowdge Class vessel has a displacement of around 14,000 tons and is equipped with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities and is armed with a variety of anti-ship, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles. Jamaran is also equipped with different kinds of weapons, including a powerful and smart missile named 'Nour' (light). Last month, the Iranian Navy mounted a very highly advanced radar on Jamaran. According to Iranian commanders, "Jamaran has been equipped with a kind of radar that is among the highly advanced ones in the world". Deputy Commander of the Iranian Navy for Research and Self-sufficiency Jihad Capitan Mansour Maqsoudlou told reporters in September that "the new radar system mounted on Jamaran is a semi-conductor radar with Fuzzy arranged flat antennas (flat slotted array antennas)". The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen. According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates. The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West through the Suez Canal.