Iranian Navy repels a pirate onslaught in the Red Sea

According to the official news agency IRNA, an Iranian Navy escort crew thwarted an attack by suspected pirates on an Iranian ship en route in the Red Sea on Wednesday.

“The Navy escort team intervened and engaged with the assaulting boats in the region this morning after receiving a message of assistance from an Iranian ship that it had been assaulted by unidentified boats in the Red Sea,” said Iranian Navy Commander Shahram Irani.

“The assailants departed the area with the arrival of the naval escort team and the exchange of fire between the assaulting boats and the escort crew,” he said.

This is the Iranian Navy’s second confrontation with pirates in international seas in a week, after the navy foiled a pirate attack on an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, according to Iranian media.