"We did not receive any request for the passage of Iranian warships," Ahmed al-Manakhly, head of the canal's operations room, told AFP, adding he had no idea if any such ships were nearing the canal.

"Any warship needs approval from the defence ministry and the foreign ministry. We have seen no such approval. Before they pass, I need to have such an approval in my hand," he explained.

Separately, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported: "The Suez Canal Authority categorically denied the truth of reports that Egypt denied passage to two Iranian warships through the canal."

On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said two Iranian warships were sailing north in the Red Sea headed for the canal for the first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, branding this a "provocation."