Iran‘s navy claimed to have fended off a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden. Navy commandoes repulsed the attack by five pirate boats against the 78th flotilla which was escorting two Iranian tankers on Saturday morning, said navy commander Admiral Shahram Irani. “The destroyer Alborz was escorting two oil tankers when they were attacked by five pirate ships,” he said according to official IRNA news agency. The attackers were forced to leave the area, Irani added.

With timely action by the Navy’s special forces, the two oil tankers “safely crossed the Gulf of Aden and now Iranian and other countries’ vessels are passing through the area safely.”

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Irani on Sunday said that the purpose of sending naval fleets to high waters is to secure the transportation and shipping lines of the country.

He said the purpose of docking of the Iranian navy fleet at Salaleh is to send the message of “peace and friendship and establish security in the region.”

Earlier this week, Irani claimed the navy escorted Iranian oil tankers to Syria for their transfer to Lebanon.

Irani also claimed that Iranian naval fleets escort ships to the mouth of the Suez Canal, with two destroyers stationed in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, according to the Fars News Agency.

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Following a fuel tank explosion in northern Lebanon in August, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said Iranian oil would be shipped to Lebanon. Tensions peaked between Israel and Iran after the latter allegedly targeted the Israeli-managed Mercer Street tanker off the coast of Oman in July, killing a British and Romanian citizen. The United States, the United Kingdom and Israel threatened retaliation, but Iran denied responsibility for the attack. Iran accused the US and Israel of trying to destabilise peace in the region. Irani was appointed as Navy chief on August 17.