22 February 2011 VOA News A Suez Canal official says two Iranian warships have entered the Egyptian waterway en route to the Mediterranean, a rare Iranian move that Israel has described as a provocation.
The official says an Iranian frigate and supply ship moved into the southern entrance of the canal at 5:45 a.m. local time Tuesday. The vessels had been scheduled to enter Monday, but the passage was delayed for unexplained reasons.
It is the first time Iranian warships have entered the Suez Canal since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Relations between Iran and Egypt have been strained ever since. But, Egypt's new military rulers approved Iran's request for the transit of the two vessels last Friday.
The ships had been scheduled to enter the canal on Monday but the passage was delayed for unexplained reasons.
The vessels, a frigate and a supply ship, are heading to Syria on what is said to be a training mission. The passage would be the first time Iranian warships have passed through the Suez Canal since the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the Iranian plan to send ships through the canal, calling it a ploy by Iran to expand its regional influence at a time of instability.
Once in the Mediterranean the Iranian vessels are not expected to enter Israeli territorial waters.
Israel sees Iran as an existential threat because of Tehran's frequent calls for the demise of the Jewish state and an Iranian nuclear program that Israeli officials say is aimed at producing weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
The international Convention of Constantinople, signed in 1888, guarantees the right of passage through the Suez Canal for all seagoing vessels, military or civilian, at all times.
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