Iran sends battle group to Gulf of Aden

TEHRAN, March 18 (UPI) -- Iranian naval forces said they dispatched a battle group to the international waters of the Gulf of Aden near Yemen to protect shipping lanes from piracy.

The Iranian navy said it has been conducting anti-piracy operations near the Gulf of Aden since 2008 in order protect volatile shipping lanes.

The navy announced that it deployed forces to the Gulf of Aden and the North Indian Ocean in order to "combat the ominous phenomenon of piracy," Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.

The Yemeni Interior Ministry announced Monday that it was interrogating 15 Pakistanis and the Iranian owner of a ship seized by the coast guard off the eastern coast of Yemen.

The report said fishermen alerted marine officials about the vessel. Authorities said they searched the vessel on allegations it was involved in drug trafficking.

A similar deployment by Iran in November coincided with a Saudi naval blockade in the Red Sea to intercept arms shipments allegedly sent by Iran and Eritrea to Shiite rebels fighting Saudi forces in northern Yemen.

Yemen blamed Iran for supporting the Houthi rebel movement that preoccupied military forces during the latter half of 2009. Tehran denied the charges.