TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian warships have rescued five trade vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean after tough battles with pirates, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said."The 30th flotilla had 5 cases of severe conflicts with the pirates," Admiral Sayyari told FNA in Roudbar city, Northern Iran, on Sunday.
He said that the Iranian Navy's 30th flotilla of warships ended its mission in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and returned home earlier this month.
"The 30th fleet of warships ended its mission successfully," Sayyari said.
The Navy's 30th fleet of warships, comprised of Alvand warship and Bushehr logistic warship docked in Iran's Southern port city of Bandar Abbas after successfully conducting a 100-day mission of providing safe passage for Iranian shipping lines in the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and sailing through the equator and berthing in Sudanese ports, Tanzania's Dar al-Salam port and Oman's Salalah port.
The 30th flotilla of warships carried out the longest-ever mission among the Iranian fleets in the international waters.
The Iranian Navy dispatched its 30th flotilla to the Gulf of Aden and the high seas in early April to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.
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.
By Fars News Agency
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