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News ID: 63342
Publish Date : 19 February 2019 - 21:54

Iran Calls for Joint Anti-Piracy Drills in Indian Ocean

TEHRAN (Dispatches) - Deputy Commander of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Mohammad Reza Azizi, in a meeting of the IONS Naval Security Commission in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Tuesday urged the member states of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium’s (IONS) to draft a joint protocol for naval security, and called for staging joint anti-piracy naval drills to boost cooperation in enforcing collective security in the water body.
"We have all convened here for the very same objective that is to promote convergence, consultation, and interaction for establishing security in the Indian Ocean which is one of the most strategic oceans in the world,” Admiral Mohammad Reza Azizi said.
"We believe that the IONS Naval Security Commission, as one of the trio-commissions of the symposium, has not had a successful function despite the fact that the IONS was formed 10 years ago,” he added.
"As the new chair of the commission, I am after a dynamic, active and serious move to forward joint cooperation to reach a comprehensive and complete protocol on naval security, with sharing views and ideas together,” he said.
The Iranian commander proposed that staging joint anti-piracy drills with the partnership of IONS states and observing members is one of the ways to meet this call.
He said that the formation of the current two-day meeting in Bandar Abbas was a good start in the early months of 2019, voicing hope for further good and positive results during the event.