ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters)-two Iranian naval ships passed through Egypt's Suez Canal in the Mediterranean on Tuesday, heading for Syria, says a source at the Canal Authority, a Move Israel condemned as a "provocation".
Iran seems to test the State of affairs in the Middle East after the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak case. A long-standing peace agreement with Egypt is crucial for Isræls regional security.
Washington said the surveillance ships ' movement.
Ships entered the Canal kl. 11.45 (10: 45 p.m. EST Monday) Tuesday and transferred to the Mediterranean 3-d. 19.30 (8: 30 a.m. EST), Suez Canal Authority source told Reuters. "Their return is expected to be on March 3," says the source.
Suez Canal cuts through Egypt and allows transit can pass from the Middle East to Europe and vice versa without having to go around the southern tip of Africa.
The channel's northern mouth, Port Said, is about 100 km (60 km) from Israel, but the ships route would take them in the Mediterranean along the Gaza and the isrælske coast. Vessels, the first Iranian naval ships to enter the channel since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, is a frigate and a supply ship.
Israel is concerned about political upheaval in Egypt and other Arab States aligned with its allies, the United States. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said he would take a "serious view" of the passage of Iranian warships.
Isrælske Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon told Isræls channel 2 tv Tuesday: "it is an Iranian provocation. When you look at the Middle East, no matter how Iranians are weighed up, the situation is not good. "
He added: "it probably does not bode well, but these two ships is not an immediate threat to us".
Isrælske media has quoted unnamed officials say the Navy as Iranian vessels would be tracked, but not confronted.
US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said: "We have a United States for a long time supported freedom of navigation, so the decision to allow them to transit the Canal is a decision between Iran and Egypt."
"Of course, we have concern about Iran's behavior in the region, we will be watching carefully," he said.
"GLOBAL ARROGANCE"
Iran's second in command of the army, Abdolrahim Mousavi, was quoted as saying by the official Irna news agency Tuesday for saying that Israel was "surprised" by the presence of Iranian naval vessels in the channel.
Using a concept which Iran refers to the United States, he added: "the global arrogance must know that the Islamic Republic of Iran's army is fully prepared to defend its objectives.
"The world should know that the presence of Iranian warships in Suez has taken place ... deep through the guidance of the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and our young and brave study personnel's self-confidence."
A recently completed Isrælie war game, only then Exit Egypt's Mubarak, the Presidency concluded that would increase the military preparations but try to avoid confrontation unless it sees a greater threat from Iran.
Separately, Israel announced Tuesday that its arrow II missile shield had aced his latest live trial, shooting a target missile from a u.s. military base on the California coast.
Isrælie defence official Arieh Herzog said the test selected the upgrade "to contend with new and additional threats" in the Middle East.
"Arrow can intercept all weapons array against it in the region, including those who may come from Iran," Herzog told journalists.
Egypt's ruling military Council, is facing his first diplomatic headache since taking power on February 11, approved the Iranian vessels passing through the channel, a crucial global trade route and major source of income for the Egyptian authorities.
The decision was difficult for Egypt's interim Government. Cairo is an ally of the United States, while its relations with Iran have been strained in more than three decades.
Analysts say Iran sees itself enjoys upheaval in the entire Middle East. Hjemstavnsfordrivelse and weakening of leaders sympathetic to the United States is likely to embolden Tehran, and reduce the chances of the concessions on its nuclear program. Iran denies it intends to build nuclear weapons.
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