Iranian Navy escorting ships in Red Sea amid prep for Israeli retaliation

Iran's Navy is escorting Iranian commercial vessels through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, as the region prepares for an Israeli retaliation to Iran's missile and drone attack, the commander of the Iranian Navy, Shahram Irani, said on Wednesday.

Irani added that the Navy's Jamaran vessel is present in the Gulf of Aden and will continue to the Red Sea.

"We escort our ships from the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Strait and we are ready to protect the ships of other countries as well," said the naval commander to Iranian media.

The Jamaran frigate is one of Iran's more advanced naval vessels and is equipped with an array of advanced missiles and sensors.

The announcement comes as Iran prepares for a possible Israeli counterattack after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night.

Iran pulling senior officers out of Syria

As part of those preparations, Iran has also begun evacuating Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel from sites in Syria, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday citing Syrian and Iranian officials and advisers.

Hezbollah has also reduced the presence of senior officers in Syria as well, while also increasing the number of personnel along the Syrian-Israeli border in order to collect intelligence, Syrian security officials told the Wall Street Journal.

Iran has also been helping the Houthi rebel group in Yemen conduct attacks on international maritime shipping, including through a suspected spy ship called the MV Behshad.

The Behshad has been stationed in the Gulf of Aden in recent months and appears to be operated by the IRGC, although Iran claims that the ship is just a cargo vessel. The vessel has remained almost stationary in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and has been guarded by the Iranian Navy, according to open-source intelligence accounts Aurora Intel and Tanker Trackers.