TEHRAN- Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, Commander of the Iranian Navy, on Saturday flew to Saint Petersburg to attend events commemorating Russian Navy Day.

In the meantime, the Iranian Navy’s Caspian force has dispatched two warships of Kaman-class to Russia to participate in the naval parades held annually on the final Sunday of July.

President Vladimir Putin will attend the naval ceremony to honor the sailors.

On the sidelines of the event, the Iranian Navy commander will meet with a number of his foreign counterparts.

An Iranian flotilla, comprising the Sahand destroyer and the Makran forward base ship, took part in the Russian naval parade in Saint Petersburg in July 2021.

In an extensive interview with the Tehran Times earlier this month, Admiral Irani praised an Iranian navy group, the 86th flotilla, which sailed around the world in a historic mission.

The flotilla, comprised of a domestically-built Dena destroyer and Makran forward base ship, set sail from Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas on September 20, 2022. They sailed around the world, passing through important ports, seas and oceans. They ultimately returned home on May 20, 2023.

The admiral said everyone doubted the mission but Iranian sailors traveled around the world successfully.

Additionally, he spoke about many things, including the maritime security initiative Iran has recently presented to the countries of the region.

The navy chief said almost all the countries of the region welcomed the Iranian initiative.

“We understand each other much better in the sea as regional countries, and this can be a central point or a focal point for creating a coalition or coordination and convergence with a priority of establishing security in the economic sphere. The concept is to provide peace and calm to the people of the countries in the region,” he told the Tehran Times.