TEHRAN (Halbeeg News)-Iranian Navy said their forces foiled an alleged pirate attack on an oil tanker in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait around the Arabian Peninsula.
According to Iran’s Mehr news agency, the navy said an Iranian warship responded to a distress signal from the ship which was attacked by 11 pirate boats last Thursday.
The statement said tanker carrying 150,000 tons of cargo and Iranian naval forces intervened to repel the pirates.
The pirates “fled the scene as soon as they spotted the presence” of the warship.
Mehr agency said that an Iranian fleet including a destroyer, a logistical warship, and a battleship started its mission in international waters on January 23.
It also reports that Iran has dispatched in recent years more vessels to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect its ships from Somali pirates.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is one of the three crucial chokepoints around the Arabian Peninsula.
Located between Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea, Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
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