Categories: Defense IssuesMilitary / DefenseWartime

Iranian Warships Dispatched to Gulf of Aden, 05/25/09

February 24, 2015

A starboard beam view of an Iranian Alvand class frigate underway.

The following was reported by the Reuters news agency, on 05/25/2009:

Iran has sent six warships to international waters, including the Gulf of Aden, to show its ability to confront any foreign threats, its naval commander said on Monday.

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Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, quoted by the ISNA news agency, made the announcement five days after Iran said it test-fired a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), putting Israel and U.S. bases in the area within reach.

Iran said on May 14 it had sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect oil tankers from the world’s fifth-largest crude exporter against attacks by pirates but ISNA did not make clear whether they were among the six Sayyari talked about.

Iranian waters stretch along the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman. Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 40 percent of the world’s traded oil is shipped, if it were attacked over its nuclear programme.

I filed a FOIA request to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and after years of waiting, finally obtained the material from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – as the DIA referred my request to them for processing.