Iran's Alborz warship has entered the Red Sea, the Iranian news agency reported on Monday, at a time of soaring tensions on the key shipping route amid the Israel-Hamas war and attacks on vessels by forces allied to Tehran.
Iranian warships had been operating in open waters to secure shipping routes, combat piracy and carry out other tasks.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November to show their support for Hamas in its war with Israel.
In response, many major shipping companies have switched to the longer and more costly route around the Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than pass through the Suez Canal, which handles about 12% of global trade.
The Alborz warship entered the Red Sea via the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Tasnim reported, without saying when.
The Alvand class destroyer had been a part of the Iranian navy's 34th fleet, alongside the Bushehr support vessel, and patrolled the Gulf of Aden, the north of the Indian Ocean and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait as far back as 2015.
