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JERUSALEM – Two Iranian warships sailed from the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday, the first such trip in at least three decades, eliciting Israeli charges that Tehran is seeking to dominate the Middle East.
The vessels headed toward Syria, but were expected to remain in international waters as they passed the Israeli coast.
The voyage took the frigate Alvand and the supply Kharq close to NATO's southern flank and could further destabilize the Middle East, a region already reeling from an unprecedented wave of anti-government rebellions.
In Tehran, the deputy commander of the Iranian navy said that Iran has "suprised the Zionist regime" with the journey to the Mediterranean.
"The world arrogance (U.S.) should know that the army of the Islamic Republic is fully prepared to defend the holy ideals of the Islamic Republic and this readiness grows day by day," Brigadier-General Abdolrahim Mousavi told the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley refused to say whether the transit in and of itself, or the Egyptian decision to allow it, were provocations.
"We will be watching carefully to see where these ships go and the implications of that," he said.
Egypt is the gatekeeper of the strategic canal which links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
Read more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_iran_warships
The vessels headed toward Syria, but were expected to remain in international waters as they passed the Israeli coast.
The voyage took the frigate Alvand and the supply Kharq close to NATO's southern flank and could further destabilize the Middle East, a region already reeling from an unprecedented wave of anti-government rebellions.
In Tehran, the deputy commander of the Iranian navy said that Iran has "suprised the Zionist regime" with the journey to the Mediterranean.
"The world arrogance (U.S.) should know that the army of the Islamic Republic is fully prepared to defend the holy ideals of the Islamic Republic and this readiness grows day by day," Brigadier-General Abdolrahim Mousavi told the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley refused to say whether the transit in and of itself, or the Egyptian decision to allow it, were provocations.
"We will be watching carefully to see where these ships go and the implications of that," he said.
Egypt is the gatekeeper of the strategic canal which links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
Read more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_iran_warships
