BANDAR ABBAS – Iran has dispatched a second fleet of warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian oil tankers and trade vessels, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told the Mehr News Agency in Bandar Abbas on Tuesday.

The first fleet of warships that Iran had sent to the Gulf of Aden in May returned home.
Piracy has flourished in recent months off the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes and seaborne gangs have seized several cargo ships and collected tens of millions of dollars in ransom for the safe release of crews and cargoes.
According to the Navy, a group of Somali pirates carried out an offensive against the Iranian oil tanker Hadi late June, but after the tanker contacted the Iranian Navy, a battleship was sent to the location and drove the pirates off.
A U.S. destroyer and a Saudi Arabian frigate also arrived at the location after the Iranian Navy ship began escorting the oil tanker.