Iran navy ships pass through Suez heading for Syria

Two Iranian naval ships passed through Egypt's Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday heading for Syria, a source at the canal authority said, a move certain to anger Israel. Iran appears to be testing the state of affairs in the Middle East after the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. A longstanding peace treaty with Egypt is crucial to Israel's regional security.
The ships entered the canal at 5.45 am (0345 GMT) on Tuesday and passed into the Mediterranean at 3.30 pm (1330 GMT), the Suez Canal Authority source told Reuters. "Their return is expected to be on March 3," the source said. The Suez Canal cuts through Egypt and allows shipping to pass from the Middle East to Europe and vice versa without going around the southern tip of Africa.
The canal's northern mouth, Port Said, is around 100 km (60 miles) from Israel, but the ships' route would take them into the Mediterranean along Gaza and the Israeli coast. The vessels, the first Iranian navy ships to enter the canal since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, are a frigate and a supply ship.