Tehran, May 17, IRNA – The Commander of Iran's First Naval Zone Rear Admiral Amir Hossein Azad said on Sunday that the 34th flotilla of the Iranian Navy is fully ready for conducting its mission.

Iranian Navy's 34th flotilla, which comprises the Bushehr logistic vessel and Alborz destroyer, left Bandar Abbas port, in southern Hormuzgan province, for the north of the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and Bab-el-Mandeb recently on a 90-day mission to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.

Talking to IRNA on Sunday, Azad said the flotilla is stationed in the area on a mission to guarantee security of routes and strongly defend interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Gulf of Aden, north of the Indian Ocean and Bab-el-Mandeb.

He said presence of the Iranian flotilla in the Red Sea is likely. 'The flotilla will be dispatched wherever deemed necessary in line with its mission.'

The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali militants hijacked 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 the 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 IRNA