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Two Iranian warships docked at a Syrian naval base on Saturday to provide maritime training to naval forces of Syria under an agreement signed between Tehran and Damascus a year ago. The Iranian fleet, consisting of a destroyer and a supply ship, arrived at the port, situated 220 kilometers (136 miles) northwest of the Syrian capital of Damascus on Friday, upon obtaining authorization from the Egyptian armed forces a day earlier to sail along the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea on their way to the Syrian coastal waters, according to Press TV.Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Sunday night that the presence of Iranian warships in the international waters is reflective of the Islamic Republic’s naval might. Brigadier General Vahidi pointed out that such overseas presence was within Iran's rights, adding that the Iranian Navy’s missions abroad were based on policies aimed at enhancing Iran's naval capabilities and readiness.  This was the second time that an Iranian naval fleet passed through the waterway since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.The Suez Canal cuts through Egypt and allows shipping to pass from the Middle East to Europe and vice versa without sailing around the southern tip of Africa. The Israeli regime has publicized its worries about the presence of two Iranian naval ships at the Syrian port of Tartus, declaring that the ships would be watched “very closely” in case they come near its waters. “If the boats come near our territorial waters, we will monitor them very closely," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said on Sunday. This comes as China accused Western countries of stirring civil war in Syria. |
Iranian warships 'dock at Syrian port'
Two Iranian navy ships docked at the Syrian port of Tartus on Friday, Iranian state media said.
The flotilla, consisting of a destroyer and a supply ship, arrived at Tartus port, 220 kms northwest of the Syrian capital Damascus, Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday.
They arrived a day after receiving permission from the Egyptian armed forces to sail through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea on their way to the Syrian coast, the agency said.
Iranian navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari said the warships in the Mediterranean Sea would convey Tehran's message of "peace and friendship."
He denied the forces would be used to put down protests against the Syrian government, saying they were to provide training to Syria’s naval forces.
"The strategic navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has passed through the Suez Canal for the second time since the (1979) Islamic Revolution," Sayari said in remarks quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
Sayari said the naval deployment to the Mediterranean would show "the might" of the Islamic Republic.
He added that the flotilla had previously docked in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.
The move comes after heightened tensions in recent weeks between nuclear powers US and Israel on one hand, and the Islamic Republic on the other.
The US has sought to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program, which Tehran claims it wants for purely peaceful purposes.
Last week the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, close to the coast of Iran, for the second time in recent weeks.
(Al-Akhbar, AFP, Reuters)
They arrived a day after receiving permission from the Egyptian armed forces to sail through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea on their way to the Syrian coast, the agency said.
Iranian navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari said the warships in the Mediterranean Sea would convey Tehran's message of "peace and friendship."
He denied the forces would be used to put down protests against the Syrian government, saying they were to provide training to Syria’s naval forces.
"The strategic navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has passed through the Suez Canal for the second time since the (1979) Islamic Revolution," Sayari said in remarks quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
Sayari said the naval deployment to the Mediterranean would show "the might" of the Islamic Republic.
He added that the flotilla had previously docked in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.
The move comes after heightened tensions in recent weeks between nuclear powers US and Israel on one hand, and the Islamic Republic on the other.
The US has sought to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program, which Tehran claims it wants for purely peaceful purposes.
Last week the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, close to the coast of Iran, for the second time in recent weeks.
(Al-Akhbar, AFP, Reuters)
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