Iran calls off plan to send warships to Atlantic

TEHRAN - The Associated Press

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the country has temporarily called off a plan to dispatch warships to the Atlantic Ocean.
     
The Sunday report quoted Iran's navy chief Admiral Habibollah Sayyari as saying such changes of naval plans are routine, "considering the situation in the region."
     
Sayyari did not say why Iran changed the plan but said that "when piracy increases in the Gulf of Aden some changes will be applied in the assignments."
     
He said another fleet would be sent to the Atlantic Ocean in the future, but did not elaborate.
     
Iran in January said it had launched two warships on a three-month voyage to the Atlantic to demonstrate the country's ability to project power across the Middle East and beyond.