Iranian navy warships rescue cargo ship in Gulf of Aden

The Iranian flotilla of warships deployed in the Gulf of Aden rescued a cargo vessel belonging to the Islamic Republic Shipping Line from a pirate attack, a Navy commander announced on Monday. “The Iranian Navy’s 27th fleet of warships rescued an Iranian cargo ship which was surrounded by pirates’ boats,” Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy for Operations Admiral Siyavash Jarreh said on Monday. He elaborated on the events which led to the rescue of the Iranian vessel, and said, “This morning, 5 pirate boats attacked the Iranian cargo vessel in the entrance to the Gulf of Aden but they fled the scene after a few hours of conflict with the Navy's special forces and after they confronted the swift reaction and heavy firepower of our special forces and the timely presence of the Navy’s 27th flotilla of warships in the region.” Jarreh underlined that the Navy's goal is providing a safe passage for Iranian and other countries' vessels through the Gulf of Aden without killing the pirates, "but if necessary, more crushing responses will be given to the pirates’ attacks". The Iranian Navy in August dispatched its 27th flotilla of warships to the high seas to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates. Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the 27th fleet was dispatched after the return of the 26th fleet of the Iranian Navy, comprised of the Bandar Abbas warship and the Alvand destroyer returned home. 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 via the Suez Canal.