IRGC Navy assumes responsibility for seizing intruding vessels in Persian
Gulf: Commander
PRESSTV (Iran) Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:7PM
http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/02/28/512446/Iran-IRGC-Navy-Persian-Gulf-Rear-Admiral-Ali-Fadavi

The responsibility for seizing vessels trespassing on Iran's territorial
waters in the Persian Gulf has been officially given to the Islamic
Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)'s Navy, a senior commander says.

Based on an agreement with the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran
signed on Tuesday, the IRGC Navy will seize all intruding vessels in the
Persian Gulf and hand them over to the organization, Rear Admiral Ali
Fadavi, the commander of the IRGC Navy, said on Tuesday.

He added that according to the agreement, the two sides would set up and
implement a new procedure for cooperation with regard to various maritime
issues, including environmental issues as well as search and rescue
operations.

Fadavi said the IRGC Navy has reinforced its military might in the Persian
Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, adding that no country except Iran has the
power to seize vessels belonging to the US and other countries.

In January 2016, Iran's naval forces arrested the crews of two US patrol
boats that had trespassed on Iranian territorial waters. Iran released them
after establishing that they had done so by mistake.

Back in October, Fadavi said the United States was not authorized to
interfere in the affairs of West Asia and the Persian Gulf, stressing that
Washington is the root cause of mischief in the region.

“They [the US] are conducting their acts of mischief in the Persian Gulf and
the West Asia regions … with two objectives. Their first objective is to
meet their own interests and the second one is to show their hostility
towards [Iran’s] Islamic Revolution,” the commander of the IRGC Navy said.

Fadavi also stated in September 2016 that the IRGC Navy was constantly and
pervasively present in all Iranian coastal territories from the northernmost
areas of the Persian Gulf to its southernmost regions in the Strait of
Hormuz.

“There is no reason for the presence of the US in the Persian Gulf and we
have always regarded and will regard it as a factor behind insecurity and
evil acts,” he said, adding that the US must leave the Persian Gulf.

Iran has invariably asserted that it only uses its naval might for defensive
purposes and to send across the Islamic Republic’s message of peace and
security to other nations.