IRNA said the naval group – consisting of a destroyer and support vessel – left the port of Bandar Abbas.

Iran’s navy has dispatched a group of vessels to the Gulf of Aden in order to protect the Islamic Republic’s “maritime interests,” the country’s official news agency reported on Tuesday.

IRNA said the naval group – consisting of a destroyer and support vessel – left the port of Bandar Abbas, the capital of the Iran province of Hormozgan on the Middle East Gulf.

The naval group will then proceed with its mission, sailing the Strait of Hormuz, Jask port, the Oman Sea, the Makran coast, the northern part of the Indian Ocean and through Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb to the Gulf of Aden, IRNA reported.

The navy command dispatched the vessels toward the Gulf of Aden “in order to protect the interests of the Iranian Islamic Republic in international waters,” the agency said.

The group is tasked with protecting shipping lanes for commercial and oil-carrying ships carrying the flag of Iran as “well as assisting foreign ships requiring emergency assistance in the Gulf of Aden,” IRNA said.

 
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