The Islamic Republic announced on Tuesday that it sent submarines to the Red
Sea.
“Iranian military submarines entered the Red Sea waters with the
goal of collecting information and identifying other countries’ combat vessels,”
Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
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Iranian ships have re-entered Red Sea from Suez CanalIt did not specify the
number or type of vessels involved but said they were sailing alongside warships
from the Iranian Navy’s 14th Fleet.
Then decision to send the submarines
to the Red Sea was the latest in a series of naval provocations by the Iranians
and came after Iran sent warships through the Suez Canal in February for the
first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In May, the Bandar Abbas warship
and the Shahid Naqdi destroyer were sent to combat piracy in the Gulf of
Aden.
“The fleet entered the Gulf of Aden region in May and has now
entered the Red Sea in the continuation of its mission,” Fars
said.
Concern in Israel is that the Iranian ships and submarines will
patrol the Red Sea and try to track Israeli naval operations
there.
Israel, according to foreign reports, has operated frequently in
recent years in the Red Sea as well as in the Gulf of Aden to stop Iranian
weapons shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza
Strip.
The Iranian ships could gather intelligence on Israeli vessels and
accompany weapons shipments en route to Lebanon and Gaza.
Iran announced
last August it had expanded its fleet of domestically built 120-ton Ghadir
midget-class submarines to 11 that it said would be used to patrol the Gulf and
the Sea of Oman.
Reuters contributed to this report.