IRAN: Warships may still pass through Suez Canal

Iran is arranging with Egyptian officials to have two of its warships pass through the Suez Canal, Iran's state-run Press TV said Thursday.

Press TV cited an unidentified naval official as saying Iranian officials were in contact with Egypt to arrange passage for the warships and that Egyptian authorities believed there was nothing wrong with their planned journey. The broadcaster said the official was confirming previous reports that Iranian warships would use the waterway.

After the report aired, officials with the Suez Canal Authority said no Iranian naval vessels had been granted permission to sail through the waterway, according to Bloomberg.

"We don’t have any information or a license from any ministry in Egypt," the canal’s head of traffic, Ahmed Manakhly, told Bloomberg after the Iranian report.

Egypt's Defense Ministry must approve any vessel’s use of the canal, Manakhly said, but, "according to the rules which govern navigation through Suez -- international rules -- we cannot forbid any vessel from passing through the Suez Canal if there is no war between Egypt and that country."

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had said Wednesday that Iran was planning to send two gunboats through the canal to Syria, which would involve heading through the eastern Mediterranean, off Israel’s coast, a clear "provocation."

"It’s meant as a clear provocation to Israel, and is also an attempt by Iran to change the subject from the fact that, while Tehran welcomed the downfall of the Egyptian government, they have a problem at home right now where a certain section of their own people would like to see that regime also fall," said Jonathan Spyer, a political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya near Tel Aviv, during an interview with Bloomberg.

Iran’s opposition has called for nationwide rallies Feb. 20 to mourn those killed in anti-government protests this week, according to the website of former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who challenged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 election.

The Iranian navy’s use of the canal would be "both a provocation and their right," Cliff Kupchan, Iran analyst at the Eurasia Group, told Bloomberg Thursday in an interview from Washington.

"Given they haven’t done it in a long time and they are doing it in the context of Middle East instability, it is certainly a provocation," he said.

Kupchan said the use of the canal by Iranian warships would be important because it would "signal Iran’s growing influence in this time of flux."

"These guys are masters at disinformation, roiling markets, keeping everyone guessing," he said. "Sometimes they pull the punch, sometimes they throw the punch."

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Photo: A February 2009 image shows the Iranian warship Alvand in the Persian Gulf. Egypt's Suez Canal Authority on Thursday said it had received no request to allow Iranian warships passage to the Mediterranean, after Israel said two vessels were on their way. Credit: Majid Jamshidi / AFP/Getty Images

 

 

Comments

[Eduardo]

Article 4 part 1:"shall enjoy the right of free passage through the Suez Canal and its approaches through the Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean Sea on the basis of the Constantinople Convention of 1888, applying to all nations" NOTE THE ALL NATIONS PART. Article 4 part 2: 2. "The Parties consider the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba to be international waterways open to all nations for unimpeded and non-suspendable freedom of navigation and overflight." SO IRAN CAN TRAVEL INTO THE GULF OF AQUABA BASED ON THE ISRAELI SIGNED AGREEMENT.

[Eduardo]

They ate long gone on their way to Syria.

Twenty-four hours after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the Egyptian upheaval had no military connotations for Israel, the Iranian frigate Alvand and cruiser Kharg transited the Suez Canal on their way to Syria
It was also the first time Cairo has permitted Iranian warships to transit Suez from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, although Israeli traffic in the opposite direction had been allowed.

http://www.debka.com/article/20675/

[Joe]

"The Iranian navy’s use of the canal would be "both a provocation and their right," Cliff Kupchan,"
Apparently some are getting their facts upside down, provocateurs were/are Israel and Somali for years now since they start hijacking merchant ships in international waters, either for public relation stunts or money, this is more like answer from Iran to provocateurs which is, "now try to forcefully hijack my ships if you can"!

[Joeseph]

I think ou gys are missing the big picture here. YES Iran wants to provoke Isreal. YES they will most likely travel and occupy the Suez Canal. But think a few days/weeks ahead. If they spark ANY sort of confortation within the canal or at either entrance; what do you think that is gong to do the the Western oil supply? Something like 44% or more (making that number up mind you) is freighted via the Suez Canal. I don't know if any of you are from the Gulf area...but experience the aftermath of a hurricane with no fuel being available and no supplies or food on the shelves at your local stores and tell me that this is a laughing matter. Absurd or not...it's nothing to be taken lightly

[Abdul Jamal]

@ aus : WHO THE HELL CARES FOR YOUR ABSURD, JEALOUS RANTS ABOUT IRANIAN NAVY? THEY DONT CARE FOR WHAT IGNORAMUSES LIKE YOU RAVE AND RAMBLE ALL THE TIME ABOUT THEIR FORCES!

[alan priestley]

I agree aus, on the fact that their navy is laughable, however, it is a provacation. Clearly its meant to poke israel a little to see if they'll push back. The Iranians aren't doing it to show how tough they are, they are doing it to see if Israel reacts. If Israel does push back, that would be bad for us, the middle East AND the rest of the world.

[Wahid Akhram]

And, your 'navies' (!) are then, a bunch of miserable, rag-tag, dilapidated tugs, filled with uncouth and stupid 'sailors' and self-admired 'modern gadgetry'. Who the hell takes your crazy, paranoid ravings about Iran seriously, that solely emanate from envy and sheer stupidity? Iran doesn't need any of your insane 'credentials'.

[Lori]

We care because Russia and China are supplying Iran with nukes and it is a primary goal of Iran to destroy Israel. They have no business sniffing off the coast of Israel. They're going to ignite WW3. If you don't care, that's fine... but you really should be caring about who is milling about the seas whether it is international or not. You don't see foreign ships scoping out our (U.S.) borders, now do you? This is not typical. It's highly alarming, in fact. Seriously, who trusts those crackjob Iranians? gah :(

[aus]

what do we or Israel really care if Iran wants to use an INTERNATIONAL port of passage to move around a couple converted fishing boats and speed boats. Their "Navy" is absolutely laughable and in no way could be considered a serious provocation by anyone, let alone Israel.