Ethiopian Journal

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior commander of the Iranian Navy announced that the country's 7th fleet of warships is scheduled to leave the country for the Gulf of Aden on Thursday.  

"Sabalan and Khark destroyers will be dispatched to the Gulf of Aden on Esfand 20 (March 11) as 7th fleet of warships," Commander of the Navy's Southern Fleet Admiral Ebrahim Ashkan said in a ceremony in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas this morning to welcome back home the Iranian Navy's fifth fleet of warships.

The fifth fleet of warships returned home on Saturday after accomplishing a 44-day mission in the Gulf of Aden, where it defended the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against continued attacks by Somali pirates.

Ashkan further announced that the Navy's sixth fleet of warships has already been deployed in the Gulf of Aden.

Commenting on the achievements gained by the move, the commander said that deployment of Iranian troops in the Gulf of Aden to protect the cargo ships was also meant to defuse the plots and efforts made by the enemies to spread 'Iranophobia' in the region.

"Inspiring the Iranian nation's message of peace and friendship in not only the regional countries, but also the coalition troops deployed in the Gulf of Aden has been materialized by the Islamic Republic of Iran's Navy today," Ashkan stated.

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.