Iranian Destroyer Alborz

Photo’s source: www. Presstv.ir

On October 16^th, 2021, pirates, in five speedboats, attacked an Iranian oil vessel to hijack it but they were forced to escape following a heavy exchange of fire with the Iranian Navy’s 78^th flotilla of warships.

“The 78^th naval fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran, consisting of the Alborz destroyer, was attacked by five pirate boats this morning while escorting two Iranian tankers” Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram IRANI said in an interview, describing the incident as “maritime terrorism”.

The commander said the pirates were forced to flee as the Iranian Navy’s 78^th flotilla intervened.

“With the timely action of the army marines, the two tankers safely passed through the Gulf of Aden, and now our country’s ships and that of other countries are passing through this area in total security, and so far, no specific case has been reported in this area”, Admiral Shahram IRANI added.

Iran’s Alborz destroyer was deployed to international waters in August, 2021 to protect naval routes and maintain security for Iranian cargo ships.

The Iranian navy has extended the reach of its escort operations in recent years in an effort to protect its ships from Somali pirate attacks.

In June, 2021, two Iranian military ships, the Makran and Sahand, embarked on what became a journey that lasted more than four months.

They entered the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, leading Washington to speculate that they might be headed for Venezuela.

They eventually reached St Petersburg, Russia to participate in a joint naval exercise.

The two domestically built ships returned to the Strait of Hormuz and ended their voyage in Iranian waters at Bandar Abbas, on September 2021.

This article was edited using the data from the, Dailytimes.com.pk, Aljazeera.com, Sputniknews.com, Algulf.net, and Presstv.ir