TEHRAN: An Iranian naval flotilla foiled a pirate attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Red Sea, the navy said, following a similar incident last month.
“A suspicious boat with 12 armed people on board approached the Iranian merchant ship in Bab Al-Mandab” strait on Thursday, the state news agency IRNA said, citing a statement by the navy.
It said a squadron had come into confrontation with the “pirates in the Red Sea,” adding that the invading boat “left the area” after the escort flotilla, “headed by the Jamaran destroyer... opened fire” at the vessel.
The incident comes after the Pentagon said on Tuesday that an Iranian ship seized an American military unmanned research vessel in the Gulf but released it after a US Navy patrol boat and helicopter were deployed to the location.
On August 10, a senior Iranian navy commander said the same naval flotilla thwarted an overnight attack on another vessel belonging to the Islamic republic.
Rear Admiral Mustafa Tajeddini said at the time that, following a help request by an Iranian ship in the Red Sea, the flotilla was dispatched to the scene and engaged fire with the attacking boats.
“After heavy exchanges, the attacking boats made off,” he added.
Like other countries dependent on the shipping lane through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, Iran stepped up its naval presence in the Gulf of Aden after a wave of attacks by Somalia-based pirates between 2000 and 2011.
Iran navy says thwarted pirate attack on ship in Red Sea
https://arab.news/44abs
Iran navy says thwarted pirate attack on ship in Red Sea
- Suspicious boat approached the Iranian merchant ship in Bab Al-Mandab strait on Thursday
- Escort flotilla ‘headed by the Jamaran destroyer... opened fire’ at the vessel
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
