Iranian Warships Enter Suez Canal in Show of Power

For the first time in more than 30 years, two Iranian warships have entered the Suez Canal -- a mostly symbolic power move that nevertheless is being closely watched by Israel and the U.S.

Egyptian officials told Reuters that the Alvand, a frigate, and the Kharg, a supply vessel, started their journey down the waterway early this morning and are expected to reach the Mediterranean this evening. The ships will eventually dock at the Syrian port of Lazeqiyeh, Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reports.

The warships will be just 60 miles from Iran's regional arch-enemy, Israel, when they reach Port Said at the canal's northern mouth. But if the vessels sail on to Syria, their route will take them parallel to the Israeli coast.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman last week described the impending passage as a "provocation," and on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel viewed the move "with utmost gravity."

The two ships are believed to have been stripped of military equipment before setting sail, BBC reports, and are not thought to represent a danger to Israel. And even if they were fully armed, the 40-year-old vessels wouldn't prove much of a challenge for the Jewish state's modern missile-boats.

Israeli officials have made no comment about the battleships so far today, and their voyage is expected to pass off without incident. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday that America would "continue to watch these ships ... wherever they go."

This naval deployment is an important symbolic gesture for the Islamic Republic. No Iranian military vessel has sailed through the Suez Canal -- which cuts through Egypt, allowing ships to travel between Europe and the Middle East without sailing round Africa -- since 1979, the year the Shah was toppled. For the regime's domestic supporters, the journey is a demonstration of the country's rising power and confidence.

Ephraim Kam, deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, told Time that he believed the passage also signaled Iran's desire to strengthen ties with Syria and, by proxy, Hezbollah -- the Lebanese-based Shiite militia that both countries fund.

The BBC notes that the move could be viewed as a shot across the bows of the U.S., Israel and its Western allies, a warning that if they continue to deploy vessels in the Persian Gulf -- which Iran sees as its backyard -- it will move gunboats into their neighborhood.

Netanyahu has accused Iran of ordering the deployment to "exploit" the situation in Egypt following the collapse of President Hosni Mubarak's pro-Israel, anti-Iranian regime. But while the arrival of two Iranian vessels in the Mediterranean might add to Israel's strategic woes, the deployment was apparently planned long before protests erupted in Egypt and Tunisia, since Iran's semi-official news agency Fars first reported on the naval mission in January.

Perhaps recognizing this fact, Israel has been careful not to criticize the Egyptian military, which is now in charge in Cairo and has pledged to uphold treaties signed with Israel. The country's new rulers apparently had no choice but to authorize the passage, as the international convention regulating shipping says the canal must be open "to every vessel of commerce or of war." Egypt is also not allowed to search naval ships passing through the canal but can charge them transit fees.

A maritime agent, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that Iran would have paid about $300,000 for the passage.