Admiral Sayyari noted that the 28th Flotilla comprises Alborz destroyer, Bandar Abbas helicopter-carrier warship and the Tareq-class submarine, Younes, and added, “This flotilla will berth in Mumbai with the mission of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries and supervising the security of Iran’s interests.”
Another ranking commander of the Iranian Navy had announced earlier that the Younus submarine would be dispatched to the East Asian waters.
“The (Iranian) Navy will dispatch the ultra heavy Tareq-class submarine, ‘Younus’ as part of the Navy’s 28th flotilla of warships to the countries of East Asia,” Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy for Operations Admiral Siyavash Jarreh said last month.
He underlined Iran's sophisticated technology in the naval industry, saying “The most complicated technology of world’s military equipment belongs to submarines.”
“The Navy’s 28th Flotilla will berth at Mumbai and Colombo ports during its voyage,” he added.
In August, the Iranian Navy dispatched its 27th flotilla of warships to the high seas to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.
Admiral Sayyari said the 27th fleet was dispatched after the return of the 26th fleet of the Iranian Navy, comprised of the Bandar Abbas warship and the Alvand destroyer returned home.
Sayyari also said that the mission of the warships is to provide security for Iranian oil tankers and commercial ships sailing on the open seas.
He added that the 26th Fleet had operated in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Northern Indian Ocean during its mission on the open seas and visited a number of ports in Oman and Djibouti.
The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.
According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.
The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.
