Naval Presence on High Seas Underscored

Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the Navy’s presence in international waters is aimed at demonstrating the Islamic Republic’s power and extending a message of peace and friendship.

“No one would have believed that we could have a presence on the high seas, but we went to international waters and made port calls in different parts of the world to display [Iran’s] might, prevent Iranophobia and extend a message of peace and friendship,” the commander said on Tuesday, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Sayyari was referring to the 44th flotilla’s presence in the Atlantic Ocean and said the flotilla will return to the country on March 5.

The Navy’s 44th flotilla, comprising Bushehr logistic warship and Alvand destroyer, set sail for the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in mid-October to protect Iranian trade vessels against piracy in the unsafe waters.

It then sailed around the African continent and arrived in the Atlantic Ocean in late November.