Commander Sees Iran’s Maritime Interests as "Strategic"

“The sea provides a great opportunity for a country and its development in civil, economic, transportations, employment, and tourism fields,” Sayyari said.

He added that Iran has "major and strategic interests at sea" and needs to spend efforts aimed at realizing and securing them.

“We need to be capable of providing the needed security not only in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, but also throughout the high seas around the globe,” the Iranian commander added.

Earlier, Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy for Engineering Affairs and Civil Defense Admiral Hassan Jafari spoke about broad-scale development projects by that force in southern coastal regions of Iran, and stated that the development began after Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed the necessity of developing those regions.

The commander said that Navy’s engineering unit has constructed two naval bases along the coasts of Makran, due to the high strategic significance of the region.

He announced that the Navy has activated missile sites and new runways for the Iranian drones in two new naval bases in the southeastern region.

As regards the naval infrastructures constructed by the Navy, Jafari said that 100% of the designing and construction phases were carried out by the Iranian engineers without foreign help.

In February 2013, Iran held a conference on Makran Coasts Development in the southeastern Iranian port of Chabahar.

The three-day seminar had been organized by Chabahar Maritime University.

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Sayyari had earlier announced that Iran plans to speed up development projects in the country's southeastern coasts, which stretch from Iran's port city of Bandar Abbas to Makran (also known as Pasabandar).