to justify the US naval presence in the Indian Ocean with the goal of controlling the flow of oil.
The issue of piracy has provided the US with a “pretext” to maintain its presence in the strategic region of the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait, Captain Khordad Hakimi told reporters Sunday, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
Given the fact that some 65 percent of the oil used by Europe and 35 percent used by the US passes through this region, the United States finds it necessary to compete for controlling and dominating the flow, he said.
Actually, only about 10 percent of the oil consumed by the United States comes from the Middle East and most of it travels around South Africa and thus does not use the Gulf of Aden to go to the Suez Canal.
The captain charged that the US has equipped Somali pirates with weapons and satellite information to “justify” the American presence in the region and thus control the flow of oil.
The United States, however, does not use the pirate issue to justify its presence in the region. The United States has maintained naval forces in the Indian Ocean since 1948, using a base in Bahrain from which to operate. That dates back almost a half century before there was a Somali pirate threet.
The justification for the US naval presence—given for more than two centuries—is the freedom of the seas and the right of ships to go anywhere in international waters. The rational for the presence over two-thirds of a century has been the frequent disorderlinees of the region and consequent threat to oil movements, dating back long before the Somali pirate problem.
According to Captain Hakimi, more than 20 countries have dispatched naval forces to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, but only Iran, India and Russia carry out independent missions while others work under a joint maritime force led by the US. Actually, the joint maritime force, Combined Task Force 150, is an international operation whose command rotates among participating countries.
Iran has so far escorted 1,150 Iranian ships in the Gulf of Aden, Hakimi said, adding that 100 of them came under attack by pirates, but were successfully rescued. He did not mention the ships and crews taken captive.