TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Iranian Navy's 33rd flotilla of warships Commodore Mohammad Reza Ahmadi Kermanshahi said Iran is ready to train Sri Lankan cadets."We are ready to accept (naval) students from Sri Lanka and other friendly and brotherly countries," Commodore Ahmadi Kermanshahi said in a meeting with Sri Lankan Navy Commander Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera in the port city of Colombo on Tuesday.
He noted that the Iranian Navy is also ready for exchanging information and expertise with the Sri Lankan Navy.
Commodore Ahmadi Kermanshahi noted that after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Iranian Armed Forces, specially the country's Navy, have acted independently in training personnel and the entire Navy personnel are currently being trained in Iran.
"We are self-sufficient in designing, building, maintaining and repairing military equipment, including heavy vessels and even submarines, and are no way reliant on the outside world," he said.
Iran's 33rd fleet of warships, comprised of martyr vice-admiral Naqdi destroyer and Bandar Abbas logistic warship, docked at the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka's territorial waters on Monday.
The Iranian flotilla has several missions, including cadet training, and Commodore Ahmadi Kermanshahi said on Monday that the Navy cadets are undergoing practical training during the several-thousand-kilometer-long voyage.
The Iranian Navy's 33rd flotilla of warships,, was welcomed at Colombo port by the Iranian embassy officials and Sri Lankan navy commanders yesterday.
The Iranian Navy's 24th and 28th fleet of warships had also earlier docked in Sri Lanka.
The 33rd fleet of warships left Bandar Abbas port in Southern Iran for the Gulf of Aden late last month to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.
The Iranian Navy's 32nd flotilla of warships ended its mission in the Gulf of Aden, and returned home mid January after thwarting 5 pirate attacks on the country's oil tankers and cargo ships.
The 32nd flotilla, consisting of Jamaran and Bushehr destroyers, returned to Iran after 80 days of missions in the Sea of Oman, North of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea.
The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.
According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.
By Fars News Agency
