Piracy. Iran sends Two Warships to Gulf of Aden

Iran has sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect oil tankers and other vessels from the world's fifth-largest crude exporter against attacks by pirates off the coast of Somalia, state radio said on Thursday.

"The mission of these warships is to protect Iranian merchant ships and oil tankers against pirate attacks," state radio said. They would arrive in the Gulf of Aden in the next two days and stay there for five months, state television said.

Iran said in December it had dispatched a warship to the same waters, but Thursday's reports did not say whether it was still there.

Nearly 20,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, heading to and from the Suez Canal. Seven percent of world oil consumption passed through the Gulf of Aden in 2007, according to Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit.

Analysts say the only way to stop bandits on the high seas is to resolve Somalia's political crisis on land where pirates profit from lawlessness as Islamist-led rebels fight government troops and African Union peacekeepers. The deployment comes at the opening of the tuna-fishing season and is believed to be a measure to also secure the many Iranian fishing vessels, who often poach also in Somali waters.

Source: Ecoterra Intl, May 15, 2009

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