Iran sends warships close to US maritime border - naval commander

A senior Iranian naval commander says his country has for the first time sent several warships to the Atlantic Ocean, close to US maritime borders. The commander of Iran's Northern Navy Fleet, Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad, is quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying Saturday that the vessels have already begun the journey to the Atlantic Ocean via waters near South Africa.

Iranian officials said last month that the fleet consisted of a destroyer and a logistic helicopter carrier, which will be on a three-month mission.

Haddad says the fleet is approaching US maritime borders for the first time. The Islamic Republic considers the move as a response to US naval deployments near its own coastlines. The US Navy's 5th fleet is based in nearby Bahrain.

In September 2012, Iran's Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, reiterated Iran's plans for sailing off the US coasts to counter the US presence in its waters in the Persian Gulf.

Sayyari had earlier mentioned Tehran's plans to send naval forces to the Atlantic to deploy along the US marine borders, and in September 2012 he said that this would happen "in the next few years".

The plan is part of Iran's response to Washington's beefed up naval presence in the Persian Gulf. The US Navy's 5th fleet is based in Bahrain, across the Persian Gulf from Iran, and the US has conducted two major maritime war games in the last two years.

In September 2011, Sayyari had announced that the country planned to move vessels into the Atlantic Ocean to start a naval buildup "near maritime borders of the United States".

• "Like the arrogant powers that are present near our maritime borders, we will also have a powerful presence close to the American marine borders," Sayyari said.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the 31st anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, Sayyari gave no details of when such a deployment could happen or the number or type of vessels to be used.

Sayyari had first announced in July, 2011 that Iran was going to send "a flotilla into the Atlantic".

The Iranian navy has been developing its presence in international waters since 2010, regularly launching vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates operating in the area.
Voice of Russia, AP, Almanar.com.lb
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_08/Iran-sends-warships-close-to-US-maritime-border-naval-commander-4881/
8/2/14
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•  Irán manda "un mensaje" enviando sus buques de guerra a las fronteras de EE.UU.

Irán ha enviado buques de guerra hasta los límites marítimos de EE.UU. en el océano Atlántico, informaron altos cargos de la Armada iraní.

"Buques de guerra de la Armada iraní comenzaron su viaje hacia el océano Atlántico a través de las aguas próximas a Sudáfrica", anunció el comandante de la Flota Naval del Norte, el almirante Afshin Rezayee Haddad, citado por la agencia oficial Fars.

Las embarcaciones militares "se están acercando a las fronteras marítimas de EE.UU., y este movimiento tiene un mensaje", agregó el almirante.

El anuncio es parte de la respuesta de Teherán a la creciente presencia naval estadounidense en el golfo Pérsico y a la realización de dos maniobras militares en esa vía acuática de la quinta flota norteamericana, con base en Baréin en los últimos años.

En 2013 el comandante de la Marina de Guerra iraní, el contralmirante Habibollah Sayyari, reiteró que Irán planea ampliar su presencia naval en el Atlántico para contrarrestar la presencia militar estadounidense en el golfo Pérsico.

• "Al igual que las potencias arrogantes están presentes cerca de nuestras fronteras marítimas, nosotros también tendremos una fuerte presencia militar cerca de los límites estadounidenses", dijo entonces Sayyari.

Últimamente la República Islámica ha aumentado su presencia en aguas internacionales para proteger las rutas navales y garantizar la seguridad de sus buques de comercio y buques cisterna. Además, la Armada iraní lleva a cabo patrullas de lucha contra la piratería en el golfo de Adén para proteger los buques mercantes.
http://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/view/119336-iran-eeuu-frontera-buque-guerra?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=actualidad
8/2/14