Habibollah Sayyari News

Iran held joint naval, air, and ground exercises in the Gulf on Friday near the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway, state media reported.The drills involve submarines and drones "practising information-gathering operations against attacking forces, as well as reconnaissance operations,” Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told the official IRNA news agency.The exercises, code named Zolfaghar-1401, were launched overnight Friday in the eastern side of the strait in the Gulf of Oman.Tehran, which opposes the presence of U.S.

Iran says ready to respond, but U.S. aircraft carrier no threatIran is ready to respond to any hostile U.S. action, but it does not consider the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf last week a significant threat, an Iranian navy commander said on Monday.The USS John C. Stennis entered the Gulf on Friday, ending a long absence of U.S. aircraft carriers in the region as tensions rise between Tehran and Washington."The presence of this warship is insignificant to us,"…

Iran said on Monday it was ready to respond to any hostile U.S. action, but it did not consider the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf last week as a significant threat.The USS John C. Stennis entered the Gulf on Friday, ending a long absence of U.S. aircraft carriers in the region as tensions rise between Tehran and Washington."The presence of this warship is insignificant to us," Iran's Navy commander Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency."We will not allow this warship to come near our territorial waters in the Persian Gulf," he added.Sayyari said the U.S. navy was allowed to sail in international waters near Iran, just as the Iranian navy could sail in the Atlantic Ocean near U.S.

Amid rising tensions with the US, Iranian naval forces have launched the final stage of a large-scale drill north of the Indian Ocean to enhance their defense capabilities, reports PressTV. Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced the beginning of the maneuver, code-named Velayat 95, on Sunday. The latest exercise, stretching from the Strait of Hormuz and Oman Sea to north of the Indian Ocean, marks the last phase of war games that started in 2016. The commander said that the war games include electronic warfare, missile tests, intelligence operations, the deployment of submarines, and relief and rescue operations, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says the Islamic Republic will soon launch a new domestically-manufactured submarine. "The Navy's new submarine will be launched soon," Iran's state-run news agency quoted Rear Admiral Sayyari as saying. The Submarine 'Fateh' (triumphant) was tested in a joint military forces maneuver in January 2015. Iran is also working on a new destroyer and expressed hope that the vessel would join the Navy by the end of the current Iranian year (March 19, 2016), he said. The Iranian Navy commander noted that the new destroyer is armed with "a collection of missiles and torpedoes" and will be displayed to the public soon. The new destroyer features a variety of new military equipment and weapons.

Iran says ships on anti-piracy mission; Yemen conflict a fault line in Iran's rivalry with Saudi Arabia. Iran sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, state media reported, establishing a military presence off the coast of Yemen where Saudi Arabia is leading a bombing campaign to oust the Iran-allied Houthi movement. The Alborz destroyer and Bushehr support vessel sailed from Bandar Abbas on a mission to protect Iranian shipping from piracy, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said in comments cited by Press TV. Saudi Arabia and several Arab allies have imposed an air and naval blockade on Yemen as part of a two-week campaign to oust the Houthis, who have taken most of the country and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh.

He underscored his forces' high level of preparedness to push back any possible threat to the nation. "The young naval forces are ready to confront any threat" and they will defeat the enemies in a humiliating way, Sayyari said. Pointing to the presence of the Iranian Navy in north of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, the admiral stated that Iran was the first country to deploy warships in the Gulf of Aden to fight “maritime terrorism”. Iran is sending a “message of peace and friendship” to the world by dispatching warships to open seas. He added the presence of the Iranian Navy in open seas is “inspiring” for “oppressed” countries.

The naval forces of Iran and Oman plan to hold a joint rescue and relief drill in the waters south of Iran in the coming months. According to Press TV, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on Tuesday that the maritime drill is scheduled to be held in the east of the Strait of Hormuz and Sea of Oman, sometime between April 21 and May 21. The Iranian commander also highlighted the importance of naval presence in the seas for the two countries, and stressed that sustainable security in the region is a prerequisite for the fulfillment of interests of the neighboring states. The commander described Iran and Oman as two main players in providing security for the region.

In a bid to protect cargo ships and oil tankers in international waters, the Iranian Navy’s 33rd fleet of warships departed for the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea on Sunday, says Tasnim News Agency. The naval fleet consists of Vice-Admiral Qandi destroyer, Bandar Abbas logistic-combat warship and Tareq submarine. The 33rd fleet is scheduled to sail across northern parts of the Indian Ocean, southern waters of India and Sri Lanka, the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the 33rd fleet is expected to provide security for both Iranian and foreign vessels in the shipping lines of the high seas, and added that navy cadets will also receive necessary training on the voyage.

Iran has called off a deployment of warships to the Atlantic Ocean, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Sunday, shelving plans for its vessels to approach U.S. maritime borders in response to the U.S. navy's presence in the Gulf. A senior Iranian naval commander was quoted in February as saying that several warships would be sent towards U.S. maritime borders in the Atlantic although the Pentagon said at the time that it was not concerned and that many countries operated in the ocean's international waters. He gave no reason for the decision but said warships' missions were likely to change "depending on the situation in the region", such as a rise in piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

The latest US Maritime OPINTEL analysis and weekly report that follows covers the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. OMAN: On 6 March, three suspicious white skiffs approached a merchant vessel near position 22:27.1 N – 060:29.2 E, approximately 122 nm southeast of Muscat, Oman. The skiffs with two persons onboard each skiff approached the ship to within a half mile. After self protection measures were initiated by the crew, the skiffs moved away. PAKISTAN: On 28 February…