Iran sends ship against pirates

Iran sends ship against pirates

news.bbc.co.uk

Iran has sent a warship to the Gulf of Aden to protect its merchant shipping from attacks by Somali pirates, Iranian state media has reported.

Pirates have attacked more than 100 ships, including two Iranian vessels, in the gulf in the past year and at least 15 are still being held.

(visit the link for the full news article)

One by one countries are finally sending ships to the gulf of Aden to try and put a stop to these pirate attacks.

Iran themselves have been attacked by pirates in the region twice, and I don't think they intend on taking any more of it.

This is what we need to be focusing on, working with Iran to eliminate pirates taking shipping vessels.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

The bass boat navy is on the way!! I hope they have more luck than the Indian navy.
They should just bait the pirates and send out some innocent looking ships that look like they are hauling good stuff. When the Pirates come out to play, boom, bye, bye Pirates.

reply to post by Tinman67


I think it will be a convenient excuse for the US Navy (or Iranian Navy for that matter) to fire upon each other and then claim they thought the other were pirates.
Logically that does not make sense, but let's not forget that an Iranian Passenger 747 was shot down by the US warship Vincennes due to "mistaken identity":

On patrol in the Persian Gulf, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian passenger jet that it had mistaken for a hostile Iranian fighter aircraft. U.S. Navy Captain Will C. Rogers III ordered a single missile fired from his warship, which hit its target and killed all 290 people aboard the commercial airbus. The attack came towards the end of the Iran-Iraq War, while U.S. vessels in the Persian Gulf had been patrolling to ward off Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti oil tankers. The international community was outraged by the American attack on a large civilian aircraft, but the Pentagon and White House defended the action. The United States claimed that the aircraft was outside the commercial jet flight corridor, flying at only 7,000 feet, and on a descent toward the Vincennes. One month later, U.S. authorities admitted that both the Vincennes and the airbus had been within a recognized commercial flightpath, and that the Iranian jet was flying at 12,000 feet and not descending. The U.S. Navy's final report blamed crew error caused by psychological stress on men in combat for the first time.

www.history.com...

It is possible the pirates will be used as an excuse to light the match of the Middle East powder keg.

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


Good point there. Could be a really bad mash up with so many nations gun boating around the same area.

This thing has to be a multi national mission otherwise it really could turn into a case of bumper cars gone bad.

haha have you seen Irans navy?
They have pink ski boats with a machine gun mounted on them.

reply to post by InvisibleHeroes


Iran has a little more than that I am afraid. Here is some of what they have:
Submarines:

three Russian SSK Kilo attack submarines and Ghadir and Nahang class mini submarines.[1][2][3][4] The Russian built Kilo submarines are considered among the quietest diesel submarines in the world.[5]

Missile Boats:

In particular, there are five Chinese Cat-14 fast attack catamarans of very recent design and build. These catamarans are believed to travel at 50 knots (93 km/h), and are extremely stable and mobile. All five are armed with the latest design of Chinese anti-ship missiles.

Frigates and Corvettes:

The main focus of the Iranian Navy seems to be developing new frigates, corvettes and medium to large fast boats capable of carrying modern precision anti-ship missiles.

Source

delta, I was thinking the same thing.

This will be interesting to watch.

For some crazy reason I dont get warm fuzzies with this surprising alliance even if it is to fight off those nasty pirates. Something smells like really bad eggs.

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


you do know the crew all recieved bravery medals for murdering 280 people on board the airliner don`t you? and never apologised for doing it.

The Iranians just do not send these expensive ships into harms way against US Navy warships so people think of the little speed boats they sent out to tail the US war ships near their waters as their navy.

Originally posted by Tinman67
The bass boat navy is on the way!! I hope they have more luck than the Indian navy.
They should just bait the pirates and send out some innocent looking ships that look like they are hauling good stuff. When the Pirates come out to play, boom, bye, bye Pirates.

That might work. They would probably want to take some of them alive for interrogation purposes. There is someone behind these attacks. Once those people start being dealt with personally by Iran, we should see the attacks decrease.

reply to post by Harlequin


Bravery medals? I don't know ... it is things like that that make me hang my head in shame for being a human and once supporting the US without question.
I still think most Americans are kind, decent people ... but it's getting harder and harder these days to keep up the optimism.

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


Iran Air flight 655 ( an airbus A300 ) was shot down on 3rd July 1988 on the commercial Bandar abbas to dubai flight lane ; the aircraft was shot down by the USS Vincennes , itself inside Iranian territirial waters.

just before this event the royal oman navy ordered them out of Oman waters - and the vincennes entered iranina waters and actively engaged the iranian navy.

the crew were award campaign ribbons and commendation medal for heroic achievement - the captain was captain william rogers.

The one problem may be that since some of these ships are already being held for ransome, these attacks might even raise the price depending on who they work for. Still, I feel that each one of these ships should have their own security capable of protecting the ship. Instead of just water cannons, use something else like foam, crowd control teargas etc.

If China wants to show off it's capabilities, than allow them to 'take a turn' protecting these waters as if an exercise. Apparently this is just a nuisance for now and not an actual war on free trade.

thats a pretty hardcore captain. BUt if back in 1988 we were comfortable doing whatever we wanted Irans waters, including shooting down a commercial liner, than I think we shouldn't fear their 2009 navy either.

THe kilos. Bet our subs are tracking them right now. all of them. doubt they'll surprise anybody when they show up.

reply to post by johnsky


any Idea on which Ship Iran has Sent and what its armerments are?

so so far its

US
Turkey
UK
China
Russia
Malaysia
India and Iran now

did i leave anyone out?



[edit on 22-12-2008 by bodrul]

Originally posted by BASSPLYR
THe kilos. Bet our subs are tracking them right now. all of them. doubt they'll surprise anybody when they show up.

The latest diesel-electrics are extremely advanced in stealth. Here is an example (2007) of what they can do:

A Chinese submarine surfaced in the middle of a recent Pacific naval exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board. By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine is understood to have sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier.

Source

I don't think it ever pays to be too complacent. For example, I am big and strong but I would be scared shirtless if I ever woke up one morning with a scorpion sitting on my chest. The scorpion may be small, but that one little sting packs one heck of a surprise.