After sending naval combat squadrons to Syria and Venezuela, Russia is now moving to revive its Cold War, Soviet-era naval presence in Yemen.
Sergei Mironov, speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament, said Yemen and its main port of Aden could become a center for the Russian navy to fulfill "strategic goals" in the coming years.
Mironov made his comments during a visit to the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, last Thursday.
In reporting his remarks, RIA Novosti noted they were made in the context of the growing piracy threat off the horn of Africa and in the southern Red Sea. It said "authorities in Yemen already have been calling on Moscow to help fight piracy and possible terrorist threats."
"It's possible that the aspects of using Yemen ports not only for visits by Russian warships, but also for more strategic goals will be considered," Mironov told reporters.
Mironov also suggested Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh might pay a state visit to Russia soon, and the possibility of renewed military technical cooperation between the two countries could then be discussed.
Pirates based in chaotic Somalia on the other side of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden from Yemen last month extended their activities closer to the Yemeni coast when they captured a Panamanian oil tanker.
Mironov stated that Yemeni authorities had expressed concern that terrorist forces linked to the al-Qaida organization could be operating in Somalia and off its coast and that they might seek to carry out attacks in the Arabian Sea, which carries much of the world's oil export sea traffic from the Persian Gulf.
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