A senior Iranian military commander says Iran's Navy maintains presence in the high seas to safeguard the interests of the Islamic Republic. Addressing the closing ceremony of the first Strategic Navy Conference in Tehran on July 12, Iranian Navy Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Seyyed Mahmoud Mousavi said the navy is capable of protecting Iran's “strategic interests” and expanding its military might in international waters, IRNA reported. The army commander further pointed to dispatching of the country's naval groups to international waters and said, “Iran's Navy is prepared to have presence in any location necessary to protect the interests of the country.” Early in July, Iran's Yunes submarine, sailing alongside warships of the 14th fleet of the Iranian Navy, returned home following an almost two-month-long mission in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The deployment of Iranian military submarine in the Red Sea was the first such operation by the country's navy in far-off waters. Iran has also deployed warships in the Red Sea to combat Somali pirates. Rampant piracy off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia has made the waters among the most perilous in terms of pirate activities. In February, two Iranian Navy ships, Khark and Alvand, passed through the Suez Canal, a strategic international shipping route in Egypt, for the first time since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in the defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in essential military equipment and systems. Iran has repeatedly assured other nations, especially its neighbors, that its military might poses no threat to other countries, insisting that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.