Iranian Warships Enter Suez Canal

It is the first time since the 1979 Iranian revolution that the country’s navy vessels have been allowed to pass through the Egypt-controlled waterway.

It was the kind of thing Israel was afraid of. Although the Iranian navy training mission traveling through the Suez had been announced long before Hosni Mubarak’s regime fell, the optics of two Iranian warships entering the Canal with the approval of the Egyptian authorities are not good. Israel and its Western allies are concerned that the post-Mubarak regime will become allied with hostile nations like Iran despite the fact that the interim military government has pledged to honour previous peace treaties with Israel, which are considered cornerstones of Middel East stability. The two ships entered the Canal Tuesday morning local time and are bound for Syria for training. Iranian authorities say the vessels aren’t carrying any weapons.