Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said Iranian naval forces are making efforts to improve security in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, considering the security of those regions as top priority. “Today the most important issue on the agenda of [Iran’s] Navy is to provide security in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb,” he said on Sunday, Press TV reported. Sayyari noted that Iranian naval forces have so far escorted 3,850 Iranian commercial and tanker ships as well as 25 foreign vessels in Bab el-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden regions where pirates are active. “The Iranian naval fleets are currently present in the Gulf of Aden,” he said, adding that Alvand destroyer and Bushehr logistic vessel were dispatched to the high seas on October 6 for a five-month mission.
