Iran Submarines in Red Sea to Spot Naval Vessels, Fars Says

[Purveyor]

Iranian submarines have entered the Red Sea as part of a mission to identify other nations’ military vessels and collect information about the seabed, the state-run Fars news agency reported, citing an unidentified official.

The submarines came from the Gulf of Aden, where they were dispatched in May, according to today’s report by Fars, which didn’t specify the number of vessels involved. A Pentagon spokesman in Washington, Marine Corps Colonel David Lapan, confirmed the deployment without additional details.

The submarines were sailing next to ships from the Iranian Navy’s 14th Fleet, which includes the destroyer Shahid Naghdi, Fars said. The fleet was sent to the Gulf of Aden in May to protect Iran’s cargo ships and oil tankers from attacks by Somali pirates, Fars said.

“We are not concerned if they have moved submarines into the Red Sea,” Lapan told reporters in the Pentagon today.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/iran-submarines-in-red-sea-to-spot-naval-vessels-fars-says-2-.html