Updated

Iran's state television is reporting that a Chinese destroyer has docked in a southern Iranian port in the first such visit to the country by the Chinese navy.

Adm. Hossein Azad, naval base chief in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, said the four-day visit saw the two navies sharing expertise in the field of marine rescue.

The Sunday report said the destroyer was accompanied by a logistics ship, both of which were on their way to the Gulf of Aden as a part of an international mission to combat piracy.

In recent years Iran's navy has increased its bilateral relations with various countries.

Earlier last year a Russian naval group docked in the same port on the way back from a Pacific Ocean mission.