Wed May 13, 2015 12:9
Iranian Warship's Missile System Locks on Invading Target in Gulf of Aden
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940223000576

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian destroyer, Alborz, locked its missile systems on an
invading vessel in the Gulf of Aden after a high-speed boat left Yemen's
coasts and rushed to attack it.

The Iranian destroyer's missile systems locked on the target after an
invading high-speed boat appeared on the monitor screens of the radar
systems in Alborz operations room.

According to reports, the invading vessel changed course and returned to the
coast after the Iranian destroyer warned it would target the vessel in
seconds.

"If the terrorists ignored our warning, they would be killed with the first
bullets of Alborz," Commodore Hassan Maqsoudlou, the captain of Alborz
destroyer, said.

He underlined that the Iranian Naval forces are prepared at any moment to
defend the Islamic Iran's interests.

The incident took place as Iran's 34th fleet of warships is in the Gulf of
Aden on an anti-piracy mission, and as an Iranian cargo ships carrying
humanitarian aid is on its way to Yemen and as the naval fleets of the US
and some other western countries have several times reduced their distance
from the Iranian fleet in violation of the international rules.

In a last such case, the US and French warships and military aircraft
changed their direction in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday night after being
warned by an Iranian flotilla to keep distant.

The US and French reconnaissance planes, helicopters and warships approached
the Iranian warships in a provocative move, ignoring the internationally set
5-mile standard distance from Iran's 34th fleet of warships deployed in the
Gulf of Aden on Saturday night.

The vessels and aircraft then received a warning from Alborz destroyer,
apologized and rapidly changed direction.

Also on May 4, a US warship and military planes changed their direction as
they were patrolling in the Gulf of Aden after they came close to an Iranian
naval fleet and were warned to move away.

2 US reconnaissance planes named P3C (Papa 3 Charlie) and US Navy destroyer,
DDG81, approached several Iranian warships in the Gulf of Aden.

The US Navy vessel and planes then received a warning from 'Alborz' and
changed direction.

The Navy's 34th Fleet, comprising Alborz destroyer and Bushehr
helicopter-carrier warship, is conducting anti-piracy patrols in the high
seas and Gulf of Aden.

The mission of the 34th fleet will last about three months in the Gulf of
Aden and the Red Sea.

Earlier this month, the Iranian flotilla of warships repelled pirates'
attacks against a foreign cargo ship whose requests for help were ignored by
the US, French and Saudi-led coalition members' naval fleets deployed in the
Gulf of Aden.
"Checking foreign warships in the international waters and surveillance of
potential threats to Iran's national interests is our essential
responsibility," the commander of the 34th flotilla of warships, Commodore
Mostafa Tajeddini, said earlier this month.

In relevant remarks early May, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah
Sayyari said Iranian warships were carrying out patrolling missions in Bab
al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden.
"We don’t enter any countries' (territorial) waters and are present in the
free waters based on the international laws and regulations," he added.
Late last month, Commodore Tajeddini dismissed Pentagon and US media reports
that his warships were made to change their route in the Gulf of Aden after
receiving warnings from the US navy ships present in the region.

"The news report by the foreign media that we have changed our route after
the US fleet's arrival is only a media ballyhoo," Tajeddini said.

"We have had communications with many naval units since we entered the Gulf
of Aden, but no country has ever dared to warn the Iranian Navy," he added.

Also late in April, Sayyari rejected media reports that Iran had been shooed
away from the Gulf of Aden by the American warships, and stressed Tehran's
firm decision to continue deployment in the waterway to protect the
country's cargo ships from pirate attacks.

Asked about the US and Saudi Arabia's claims that the Iranian warships
planned to deliver weapons to Ansarullah revolutionary movement in Yemen
when they received a warning from the US warships and left the region, he
said the Iranian fleet of warships were sent to the free waters based on the
international laws to protect the cargo ships and oil tankers from pirates'
attacks, and not delivering weapons to other nations.

Implying that allegations of the Saudis and Americans were not true, the
Admiral reminded that he, as Iran's Navy commander, had officially stated
the mission of the Iranian fleet and the location of its mission (Gulf of
Aden), and the presence and mission of the Iranian warships was completely
clear and could be monitored and verified.

He also stressed that Iran would never allow anyone to inspect its ships and
vessels.

"We are present in this region and provide security coverage for our ships
since, anyway, it is the route for the voyage of our ships," he said.

Stressing Iran's firm decision to continue deployment in the international
waters, including the Gulf of Aden, he said, "We would never leave the
region and give up protecting our cargo ships for the sake of their words."

He underscored that the Iranian flotilla of warships not only provides
security for the country's cargo ships but also protect other states' ships
and oil tankers from pirate attacks.

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.

The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the
Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because
Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.