Commander Reaffirms Iran’s Continued Naval Presence in Gulf of Aden

(Tasnim) – Iran's Navy commander underlined that the presence of the country's naval fleets in the high seas, including the Gulf of Aden, will continue and that nobody will be allowed to inspect Iranian warships in international waters.

In an interview with Al-Alam Arabic language news network on Saturday, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari made it clear that his forces will not leave the Gulf of Aden waters because others might want Iran to do so.

The Iranian Navy's 34th flotilla of warships, codenamed Alborz, has been deployed to the Gulf of Aden as part of the routine operations to ensure security of the country's trade vessels, he added.

The senior commander also dismissed the notion of inspection of the Iranian naval ships in the Gulf of Aden, reiterating that their mission is to legally ensure security.

Sayyari further quashed rumors of any encounter between the Iranian naval ships and those of the US or Saudi Arabia off the coasts of Yemen.

Earlier this month, Iran's Navy deployed its 34th flotilla of warships to the Gulf of Aden for a mission to ensure security for the traffic of Iranian shipping lines in the region and protect the Islamic Republic's interests in high seas.

Meanwhile, Fox News quoted sources in the Pentagon as claiming that a nine-ship Iranian convoy believed to be carrying arms to Yemen had turned around on Thursday after being followed by US warships stationed in the area to prevent arms shipments.

Iranian officials and military commanders have firmly rejected these allegations and those about the presence of Iranian military forces in Yemen, stressing that crisis in the Arabian Peninsula country has only political solutions.

Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies launched a military campaign against Yemen on March 26. The coalition's justification for the air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement was to restore power to fugitive Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

Later on April 21, the Saudis declared a halt to the month-long air campaign. But hours later, they restarted their deadly airstrikes that medical and relief organizations said were killing hundreds of civilians.

Over 1,500 people have been killed since the bombing campaign began, while more than 150,000 have been displaced.