Iran Navy repels three pirate attacks on Iranian oil tanker

Iran’s naval forces have once again managed to thwart a spate of organized pirate attacks targeting an Iranian oil tanker in high seas.

The Iranian Navy said in a statement on Tuesday that pirates in 12 boats made three attempts to hijack the Iranian oil tanker in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and Bab el-Mandeb Strait early this morning.

However, the Iranian Navy’s 31st fleet of war vessels, comprising Bayandor destroyer and Bandar Abbas auxiliary ship, successfully foiled all three attacks against the ship and chased off the assailants.

Over the past week, naval forces of the Islamic Republic have successfully repelled four pirate attacks against Iranian merchant vessels and oil tankers, according to the Tuesday statement.

In a similar rescue operation in late August, the 31st fleet of Iran’s Navy saved two Iranian commercial vessels from separate pirate attacks near the Port of Djibouti and north of Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

In February, Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the naval forces of the Islamic Republic had repulsed over 150 pirate attacks in the past four years.

In recent years, the Iranian Navy has been increasing its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.

In line with international efforts to combat piracy, the Iranian Navy has been also conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to safeguard the vessels involved in maritime trade, especially the ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran.