TEHRAN, Nov. 19 (MNA) Lieutenant Captain Fat'hollah Rahimian has announced that since the first signs of threats from piracy against freighters and tankers, 30 countries have been dispatching warships to the Gulf of Aden.These 30 countries that have sent off their warships to the Gulf of Aden include Turkey, Greece, Denmark, Canada, Australia, India, China, Russia, Britain, America, Japan, Oman, France, South Korea, Germany and Italy among others.
The Iranian Navy's fleet of war vessels maintains its pretence in these waters to protect its interests and the security of Irans shipping lanes, said Lieutenant Captain Fat'hollah Rahimian.
Most of the warships from these 30 countries have been organized under the name of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) to promote security and stability across this mentioned hazardous area, he added, the CMF is comprised of three principle task forces:CTF-150,CTF-151 andCTF-152.
Lieutenant Captain Rahimian elaborated on the tasks of these regional and trans-regional warships and said, the CTF-150 which is assigned the task of maritime security and counter-terrorism is stationed in Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Oman, and the Arabic Sea. CTF-151 which is stationed in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali coast is mainly tasked with monitoring the waters for piracy activities. The CTF-152is stationed in the Persian Gulf and its commandership is assigned periodically to different countries.
The Lieutenant Captain also noted that among these countries, some including Iran, Russia and Chinas maritime forces work completely independently.
He asserted that it was Irans absolute right to have a presence in open seas and wherever it is needed for Iran to protect its interests such as combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden, it will accordingly dispatch its forces.
By Mehr News Agency
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