As Somali pirates creep closer to the Persian Gulf, the Iranian government is getting ready to push 'em back. Which begs the question: Can you root for both sides in a fight getting their asses kicked?
Mohammad-Hossein Dajmar, director general of Iran's Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL), is due to present a plan for increased surveillance of Iranian shipping in the Indian Ocean in order to combat the threat of Somali piracy as it gets closer to Iran's shores.
"Tehran needs to expand supervision through multiplying the number of its security forces," Dajmar told Iran's semi-official Fars News recently.
Iranian officials are likely taking action now as Somali pirates have been venturing farther and farther from their home base in the Horn of Africa and closer to Iran's shores. Just this month, Somali pirates struck as far as 1,000 miles out to sea, hijacking a ship that was closer to India than Somalia. That kind of range has put the Persian Gulf -- and Iranian shipping interests close to home -- within striking distance. Somali pirates have crept up around the Gulf, attacking vessels off the coast of Oman.
Dajmar also claimed that Iran's "no threat has jeopardized Iranian vessels up to this moment" but that's more bravado than reality. Fars' own reporting shows that, like just about everybody's else's ships in the region, Iranian vessels run the risk of getting pirated. In March, an Iranian fishing boat in the Gulf of Aden had to be rescued from pirates by a Spanish frigate.
Like the Islamists in Somalia, the theocrats in Iran have been pretty aggressive in cracking down on piracy. In November 2008, Iran joined the host of other nations with warship hunting pirates in the Gulf of Aden and started conducting anti-piracy patrols there after pirates seized an IRISIL ship. Since then, the Islamic Republic has claimed its warships have helped repel pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden. Iran even got behind the movement to load merchant ships up with guns and let them shoot it out with pirates.
At the moment, 23 Iranian and South Asian crew from the Malaysian-owned MV Albedo are being held by Somali pirates after getting hijacked en route from the United Arab Emirates to Mombassa.
*Photo: IRNA
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See Also:
- How To: Cut Deals With Pirates, Start Classroom Revolts
- Mercs vs. Pirates: Deadly Shootout on the High Seas
- Pirates Hit Six More Ships Off of Somalia
- U.S. Ship Repels Pirates With Sonic Blaster, Bullets
- Arrrr! Warships vs. Somali Pirates
- Tanker-Grabbing Pirates Drown, with Bounty
- Pirates Get Millions for Arms-Laden Ship
