Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari stressed that the Islamic Republic’s naval forces strongly defend both the country’s territorial waters and the high seas.

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari stressed that the Islamic Republic’s naval forces strongly defend both the country's territorial waters and the high seas.

“Iran’s Navy has been constantly navigating through the high seas since seven years ago with the aim of defending Iranian and international commercial ships,” Admiral Sayyari said on Monday.

He added that the Navy has dispatched 34 flotillas to the high seas over the period.

Meanwhile, he said that the United States does not need to protect its ships in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran, since it is completely safe, but should do so in the waters near Yemen.

"The area of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz is safe thanks to constant monitoring and control by the Iranian Navy, so the United States does not need to convoy their ships [there], while the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are not entirely safe, that's why Washington should protect its vessels there," Sayyari was quoted as saying by local media.

The Iranian Navy commander added that Iran's forces conducted regular exercises and were continually upgrading their military equipment in order to ensure the security of international marine traffic in their territorial waters.

Admiral Sayyari further noted that Iran's naval forces escorted some 2,900 Iranian ships and had 180 armed confrontations with pirates over the past seven years.

Iran provided military assistance to 25 foreign ships over the same period, he said.

The Iranian commander also pointed out that Iran "should have maritime power in the north of the Indian Ocean and in the high seas.”