TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Navy has sent its best destroyers to the Caspian Sea to protect the country's territorial waters and interests, a senior commander said, but meantime stressed that Tehran seeks peace and tranquility in the waterway."At present, the best home-made destroyers of the Navy are navigating in the Caspian Sea and the oceans and this has been materialized by the efforts of country's young people," Commander of Iran's Northern Navy Fleet Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad told reporters in the Northern port of Bandar Anzali on Saturday.
He underlined the Navy's strong presence in the Caspian Sea, but meantime said, "The Caspian Sea is the sea of peace and friendship and a secure sea and the neighboring countries should respect each other's sovereignty."
In relevant remarks in December, Admiral Rezayee Haddad said that the Iranian Naval forces have created a security belt along the countrys territorial waters in the Caspian Sea to maintain their superiority and control over the region.
We have created a belt along our coastal borders to practice a full monitoring of the borders and territories ruled by the Islamic Republic of Iran, he told FNA.
We control all the traffic, activities and any measure taken in this area based on the treaties among the Caspian Sea littoral states and in support and defense of the countrys interests, he added.
Rezayee Haddad said that Iran and the neighboring states also send their warships to each others ports to show their peaceful and friendly relations, and added that two fleets of Iranian warships are ready to be dispatched to the waters of the friendly countries in the same regard.
Admiral Rezayee Haddad also said that peace and stability in the Caspian Sea should be materialized through the powerful presence of the littoral states' navies, adding that his forces are in full control over the Sea and monitoring every move in the waters.
We believe peace in the Caspian Sea is defined by the might of its littoral states, as when they would be mighty and would have a mighty presence at the scene that would safeguard and guarantee peace and stability, he added.
That is the reason why the Navy has established its presence in the Caspian Sea and it has no other objective, but safeguarding Irans interests and respecting the interests of the other littoral countries of the Caspian Sea within the framework of the agreements among them and the international regulations, the Iranian navy commander said.
Early in September, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari underlined the geostrategic importance of the Caspian Sea, and said, "The role of the Caspian Sea in the region is not unknown to anyone given its geostrategic situation and giant oil and gas resources."
He also underlined the Caspian Sea's importance for economic cooperation among the regional states, and said strengthening the presence of the Iranian Navy to maintain the status quo is necessary.
"Iran is present in the Sea based on (the littoral states') equal rights and its 20% share of the Sea and the Caspian Sea is under the precise monitoring and control of the Navy," Sayyari stressed.
Iranian military commanders have always reiterated Tehran's commitment to the security of the Caspian Sea, and cautioned that the military presence of the trans-regional states will only undermine the security of the strategic waters.
Iranian officials have also frequently underlined the necessity for the establishment of security in the Caspian Sea through extensive and all-out cooperation among the regional states.
Iran's Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) hold regular wargames to practice combat tactics and also test new home-made military tools, equipment and weapons in action.
In July, Different combat units of the Iranian Navy held a series of naval exercises dubbed 'Sustainable Security 92' in the Caspian Sea to display Iran's power of safeguarding the country's territorial waters.
Iranian officials and commanders have repeatedly underlined that all military exercises and trainings of the Iranian Armed Forces are merely meant to serve deterrent purposes.
By Fars News Agency
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