Iranian Submarines, Warships Berth in Pakistan

(FNA)- Several Iranian Navy warships and submarines dispatched to the high seas have berthed in Pakistan, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced on Sunday.

"5 submarines and warships of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Navy berthed in Pakistan on Friday," Sayyari said.

On Saturday, another Iranian commander said that Iran's flotilla of warships, comprising four naval ships and a submarine, has berthed at the Pakistani Karachi port to expand naval cooperation between the two friendly nations.

Sayyari noted that the vessels had berthed in Masqat, the capital port city of Oman, last week, and said that another Iranian fleet of warships will berth in Sudan in the near future.

On April 21, Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy for Operations Rear Admiral Siyavash Jarreh announced that the Navy’s 29th Flotilla of warships dispatched to the high seas has berthed in Oman's port of Masqat on its way back to Iran.

"The Navy's 29th Flotilla has berthed in the Omani port of Masqat after 90 days of navigating in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea," Rear Admiral Jarreh said.

The 29th Flotilla dispatched to the international waters consisted of Khark logistic and a helicopter-carrier warships.

Meantime, Rear Admiral Jarreh said that the Navy's 30th Flotilla comprising of Alvand destroyer and Bushehr logistics vessel has been dispatched to the high seas to continue the same mission.

In April, the Iranian Navy changed the mission of its 29th flotilla of warships and called it back home before the naval group could start its voyage in the Atlantic Ocean.

Sayyari said at the time that the country now plans to send another fleet to the Atlantic Ocean.

"The Navy's 30th flotilla of warships which will be dispatched in the future will be comprised of the Islamic Republic's Alvand destroyer, Bushehr logistic warship and a helicopter," he told FNA.

His remarks came after reports said that the mission of Iran's 29th flotilla of warships has changed and it won't be sent to the Atlantic Ocean.

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.