Global News

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said on Wednesday that the Navy has dispatched its 64th flotilla to the Gulf of Aden to safeguard the country’s interests at the high seas.

“The armed forces are responsible for safeguarding national security,” Rear Admiral Khanzadi said, addressing a military ceremony today.

He noted that sustainability of security is prerequisite to stability of economic activities, adding, “This is why all governments make special efforts for maintaining sustainable security for social, political, economic and cultural activities.”

Rear Admiral Khanzadi said that the Iranian Navy Forces are responsible for defending territorial integrity of the country and interests at the open seas.

In a relevant development in late August, Iranian Deputy Army Commander for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said that his country has deployed its most advanced destroyer Sahand, along with two other vessels, to the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian-flagged ships in the high seas.

Iran has deployed its most advanced destroyer Sahand to the Gulf of Aden in a mission aimed at providing security for Iranian vessels in the high seas.

Rear Admiral Sayyari said that the warship is being accompanied by a logistical vessel and the Kharg helicopter carrier on the voyage.

The flotilla was the 63rd Iranian naval group to be dispatched on overseas operation, he added, saying the group will be escorting Iranian ships in the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf.

The mission is Sahand’s maiden long-term voyage. The vessel joined the Navy’s Southern fleet last December.

It is the third of Mowj-class frigates built by Iran after the Jamaran and the Damavand, but its enhanced operational capabilities and size make it twice as powerful in terms of offensive and defensive features.

It has been indigenously designed and produced in separate modules, and primarily boasts the capability to evade radar.

While accompanied by its logistical vessel, Sahand, which is outfitted with four engines, can sail 150 days in a row in far oceans and tumultuous maritime conditions.

It has been equipped with state-of-the-art torpedo launchers, various anti-ship and anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missile systems, precision defense mechanism, anti-submarine defense system, enhanced operating range and maneuverability, and different electronic apparatuses.

Captain Abbas Fazeli-Nia, the commander overseeing the Navy’s production facilities, said the destroyer has also been provided with interception, fire control, radar jamming, and long-range cruise missile systems as well as a radar system of itself and various sensors.

The previous Iranian naval group comprising the Bayandor destroyer and the Bushehr logistical vessel returned to the country in June, having sailed 2,350 nautical miles.