MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Iranian Navy sent the 41st flotilla on an anti-pirate patrol mission to the Gulf of Aden, local media reported Wednesday.
"Iran’s Navy, as a strategic force, is in charge of bolstering security of the country’s border lines on high seas and international waters," Iranian Navy Commander Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said, as quoted by Mehr News Agency, at the see-off ceremony for the naval group.
"In addition to providing security to the shipping lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 41st flotilla aims to maintain the authority of Iran by confronting the Iranophobia and the enemy’s propaganda," Sayyari added.
The Iranian Navy has been on watch in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 as Somali pirates hijacked the Delight cargo ship chartered by Iran to carry wheat off the coast of Yemen.
