The Iranian Navy has thwarted a pirate attack on an oil tanker in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the country's Armed Forces said on Friday in a statement.
"Yesterday in the morning, the oil tanker, which was attacked by 11 pirate boats in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, was saved due to well-timed actions of the 60th flotilla," the statement said.
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The ship was transporting more than 150,000 tonnes of oil, according to the Iranian Armed Forces.
The security situation in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which is one of the key routes for ships coming from Europe to Asia, has been unstable for years due to the conflicts and poverty in the neighboring countries: Somalia, Yemen and Eritrea.
