zaterdag 18 februari 2012

Iran warships enter Mediterranean as tensions with Israel grow

Two Iranian vessels passed through the Suez Canal last February, soon after Egypt's uprising, for the first time since the 1979 revolution Photo: REUTERS.

Iran's warships entered the Mediterranean on Saturday to show its 'might' to regional countries, as a high-level American official arrived in Israel.

Iran sent two of its warships into the Mediterranean on Saturday as tensions with Israel worsened and a senior American official arrived in Tel Aviv.

State television presenters in Tehran were triumphant after Iranian ships passed through the Suez Canal for only the second time since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Reports said they had docked in Tartus, the main port for Iran’s embattled ally regime Syria which has been convulsed by an uprising for almost a year.

Israel immediately put its navy on alert.

The deployment raised tensions with Israel at a dangerous time, with speculation growing that air strikes are being prepared against Iran’s nuclear programme before it reaches a point where it cannot be stopped.

Dan Fayutkin, an Israeli Defence Force officer and expert in military strategy, said that the movement of Iranian vessels into the Mediterranean risked starting a war.

“Any military move made now by either Israel or Iran would be hostile,” he said.

Source/Read More: The Telegraph

Read/see our: Iran's naval warships enter Suez Canal first time in 3 decades