TEHRAN (AFP) – An Iranian naval flotilla foiled a pirate attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Red Sea, the navy said, following a similar incident last month.
“A suspicious boat with 12 armed people on board approached the Iranian merchant ship in Bab al-Mandab” strait on Thursday, the state news agency IRNA said, citing a statement by the navy.
It said a squadron had come into confrontation with the “pirates in the Red Sea”, adding that the invading boat “left the area” after the escort flotilla, “headed by the Jamaran destroyer… opened fire” at the vessel.
The incident comes after the Pentagon said on Tuesday that an Iranian ship seized an American military unmanned research vessel in the Gulf but released it after a United States Navy patrol boat and helicopter were deployed to the location.
