Tehran, March 03: Two Iranian Navy ships that made their first ever journey through the Suez Canal following Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution are currently sailing through the canal before heading toward the Red Sea.
The vessels will pass through the Red Sea later on Thursday and enter the Gulf of Aden, the Public Relations of Iran’s Army said on March 3.
The Iranian warships are due to arrive in zone one of the country’s Naval Forces later.
On Wednesday, a canal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters, “Tomorrow (Thursday), the Iranian ships will cross the canal with the convoy starting in the north from the Mediterranean.”
The official added that the two Iranian naval ships will go through the canal on Thursday morning.
On February 22, Iranian vessels, Khark and Alvand, crossed the Suez Canal, a strategic international shipping route in Egypt en route to Syria after Cairo had “agreed to allow the two Iranian warships to transit the Suez Canal.”
The 1,500-ton patrol frigate Alvand is armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-ton supply vessel Khark has 250 crewmembers and can carry three helicopters.
Israel, however, has placed its Navy on alert, branding the naval movement as a cause for ‘concern’ and an act of provocation.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said the transit of the two Iranian warships through the Suez Canal was a “political provocation.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also expressed concerns over the passage of the two Iranian ships through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
“Israel views with gravity this Iranian initiative and other developments that reinforce what we have said in past years about Israel’s security needs,” he claimed in a statement released by his office.
“Today we are witnessing the instability of the region in which we live and in which Iran is trying to profit by extending its influence by dispatching two warships to cross the Suez Canal,” added the Israeli premier.
The United States — the most influential NATO member — has also announced that it will be “watching carefully to see where these ships go and the implications of that.”
However, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari has downplayed Israel’s threats against Iran, saying the two Iranian warships docked in Syria’s Lattakia Port “on a routine and friendly visit and carried the message of peace and friendship to world countries.”
——-Agencies