Iran sends submarines to Red Sea: report

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Iran sends submarines to Red Sea: report

By Hashem Kalantari | Reuters – Tue, 7 Jun, 2011

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has sent submarines to the Red Sea, the semi-official

Fars news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified source, in a move

that could anger Israel.

" Iranian military submarines entered the Red Sea waters with the goal of

collecting information and identifying other countries' combat vessels, " Fars

said.

It did not specify the number or type of vessels involved but said they were

sailing alongside warships of the Navy's 14th fleet.

State-run Press TV said in May the 14th fleet, comprised of two vessels, the

Bandar Abbas warship and Shahid Naqdi destroyer, had been 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.

Two Iranian warships passed through the Suez Canal in February, the first such

move since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, en route to Syria. Tehran said the

mission was one of " peace and friendship " but Israel called it a " provocation. "

Iran announced last August it had expanded its fleet of domestically built

120-tonne Ghadir-class submarines to 11 which it said would be used to patrol

the Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

It has deployed warships further afield, as far as the Red Sea, to combat Somali

pirates but has not previously said it sent submarines to those waters.

(Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; editing by

Piper)