Bandar Abbas, Sept 17, IRNA � Iran's Navy dispatched its 36th Fleet to the Gulf of Aden on Thursday to help protect Iranian trade vessels in international waters.

The 36th Fleet was dispatched during a ceremony participated by Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari simultaneously with the return of the 35th Fleet composed of Jamaran and Bushehr frigates to the country from a 90-day mission in the open seas.

Speaking during the ceremony, Sayyari said that the presence of the Iranian naval forces in the high seas is indicative of the capability and might of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

He said that the 35th Fleet of the Navy made a 37,000 kilometer journey n its 90-day presence in the high seas, carrying out 1,200 tracing missions as well as 80 reconnaissance missions.

The 35th Fleet also escorted trade vessels and oil tankers 150 times. It even fought with pirates for five times and sometimes had to open fire at them, according to Sayyari.

By IRNA