Iran’s Navy thwarted on Monday an attempted pirate attack on an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden south of Yemen, before the vessel entered the Bab el Mandeb strait connecting the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Iranian media report. The Navy fired warning shots and repelled pirates who had tried to attack an Iranian oil tanker with four boats, the Navy of the Islamic Republic said in a statement carried by Iranian Press TV . Iran has been expanding its Navy presence in the Gulf of Aden since 2008 to protect its tankers from pirates. Somali pirates have been active in areas close to the Horn of Africa, which is separated by the Arabian Peninsula by the Bab el Mandeb strait. Monday’s incident reported by Iranian media is the second such attempted pirate attack on an Iranian oil tanker in the past few weeks. In […]