The Navy successfully thwarted a major pirate attack on an Iranian vessel in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. A flotilla of the Iranian Navy, including the Lavan warship and the Shaheed Naqdi destroyer, went to the aid of the oil tanker when 115 pirates on 12 boats attacked the vessel on Saturday morning, Press TV reported. The pirates were forced to flee after they encountered the Shaheed Naqdi destroyer. The pirates came for the tanker three hours later. The second assault was similarly foiled by the fleet.
After repelling the pirate attack twice, the flotilla escorted the vessel to a safe zone. Bab-el-Mandeb or Mandeb Strait is a strait located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The flotilla left Iran’s southern coasts for the high seas in June to help safeguard maritime routes used by Iranian vessels in international waters. In recent years, Iran’s Navy has increased its presence in international waters to help protect the waterways and provide security for merchant shipping. In line with international efforts against piracy, the Navy has been conducting patrols in the Gulf of Aden since late 2008, safeguarding cargo ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran and other countries.
