Posts tagged suez canal
Iranian Warships Dock at Saudi Port in Red Sea
Feb 4th
Iranian naval ships docked on Saturday in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on a mission to project the Islamic republic’s “power on the open seas,” the Fars news agency reported.
A general view shows Jeddah Islamic Seaport in the Red Sea. Iranian naval ships docked on Saturday in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on a mission to project the Islamic republic's "power on the open seas," the Fars news agency reported.
The supply ship Kharg and Shaid Qandi, a destroyer, docked in the Red Sea port in line with orders from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it quoted navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari as saying.
“This mission aims to show the power of the Islamic republic of Iran on the open seas and to confront Iranophobia,” he said, adding that the mission started several days ago and would last 70 to 80 days.
The commander did not give other destinations.
Iran’s navy has been boosting its presence in international waters since last year, deploying vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden on missions to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates.
Tehran also sent two ships into the Mediterranean for the first time in February 2011 through the Suez Canal.
Ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which have long been strained, deteriorated in late 2011 following US allegations that a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington had been hatched in Tehran.
Tehran has also called on Riyadh to reconsider its vow to make up for any shortfall in Iran’s oil exports due to sanctions over its nuclear programme, saying Riyadh’s pledge to intervene on the market was unfriendly. source – Brietbart
Iran Inspires Hamas Rocket Attack on Israel
Feb 24th
Boldness begets boldness
Iranian warships crossed through the Suez Canal for the first time since 1979 and docked at Syria’s Latakia port late Wednesday. The move has been called a “provocation” by Israeli President Shimon Peres, but is not seen as an immediate military threat to Israel. The ships met no interference by the United States or Israel, but Israeli officials have said that they are closely monitoring the situation.
According to the commander of the Iranian navy, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the ships are merely ”carrying a message of peace to the nations of the world,” but the bold move has inspired quite the opposite by emboldening Hamas to fire upon Israel. The unrest in the Middle East has brought with it a great deal of opportunity for Hamas to gain more weaponry, and build confidence for a fresh round of attacks on Israel.
Suspect Timing
Israel’s security leaders ought not to have been surprised when Hamas fired two long-range Iranian-made Grad missiles Wednesday night, Feb. 23 at the Negev cities of Beersheba and Netivot. The attack occurred exactly when Iranian Navy commander Adm. Habibollah Sayyari was due in Syria’s Latakia port to attend the welcoming party for the two Iranian warships which made it through the Suez Canal without US or Israeli interference. It also marked a fresh, redoubled Hamas offensive against Israel.
Western military sources report that the Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas is further exploiting the shaky situation in Cairo and Israeli inaction to double or even triple the quantities of weapons smuggled via the Suez Canal and Sinai into the Gaza Strip. One Israeli officer said he had never before seen surface-to-surface missiles, anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank missiles secreted into Gaza in such bulk.
The confidence factor
The free passage afforded the two Iranian warships for transiting the Suez Canal Tuesday, Feb. 22 – without Egypt or US and Israeli warships even inspecting their cargoes – has encouraged Tehran to press on with its expansionist ambitions. Hamas understood that its redoubled offensive against Israel would be most welcome. The Palestinian extremists held their fire until Tehran announced the warships had put into Latakia Wednesday and the arrival of Iran’s navy chief that night. And then they went into action – first against an IDF border patrol, then to fire Grads at Beersheba and Netivot.
The Palestinians ruling Gaza are sending Grad missiles as messengers to Israel that they now enjoy Iranian support close by in the Mediterranean. source: Debka
Israel Warns It Might Act on Iranian Warships In Suez Canal
Feb 21st
Breaking News…
Israel is monitoring two Iranian warships about to pass through the Suez Canal for Syria and warn they might act. The Israeli Navy will be tracking the two warships as they cross the Suez Canal for the Mediterranean Sea, according to defense officials.
Reuters - An Iranian warship and speed boats take part in a naval war game in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, southern Iran on April 22, 2010.
Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement that it had alerted “friendly nations” about the warships, Reuters reports. Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says that “Israel cannot ignore these provocations,” according to ynetnews.com. source- Fox News
Click here to read about US warships and Iran in a standoff…
Breaking News! US Warships Box In Iranian Flotilla
Feb 21st
The US on the move in the Mediterranean against Iran
The repeated delays and contradictory statements about the two Iranian warships’ transit of the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean is accounted for by a standoff between the Iranian flotilla and five US warships deployed in recent days at the waterway’s southern entrance and along its course, debkafile’s sources disclose. Thursday night, Feb. 17, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, escorted by missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and the fast supply ship USNS Arctic, headed south through the canal. By Friday morning, they were through and taking up position opposite the Kharg cruiser and Alvand missile destroyer of the Iranian Navy’s 12th Flotilla, which were waiting to enter the Suez Canal at the southern Red Sea entrance.
US warships are reportedly engaged in a tense standoff in the Gulf with Iranian warships attempting to cross the Suez Canal
Furthermore, since the first week of February, the USS Kearsarge, another aircraft carrier, was posted in the Great Bitter Lake opposite Ismailia and the canal’s main routes with a large contingent of marines aboard. The USS George Washington carrier and the USS Carl Vinson were additionally deployed in the Gulf of Aden, the latter having been moved from the Pacific.
A battle of nerves is therefore underway
The Iranian warships found themselves cheek to jowl with a major concentration of America naval might piling up in the Red Sea and Suez and were not sure what would happen if they went forward with their mission to transit the Suez Canal for the Mediterranean for the first time in 30 years on their way to Syria.
Sunday night, the Canal authorities announced another 48 hours delay shortly after Tehran state TV claimed the warships were already through to the Mediterranean. And, finally, the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier was quietly transferred from Bahrain, headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet amid the anti-government uprising, to a point opposite the Iranian Gulf coast. source – DEBKA
Earthquake Shakes Up Suez Canal as Iran Warships Approach
Feb 21st
A great earthquake
“An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale shook up residents at the entrance to the Suez Canal early Monday morning, 48 hours before two Iranian ships, a frigate and a supply vessel, are expected to enter the canal. The National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research reported that tremors from the 3 a.m. quake lasted for 27 minutes, but caused no damage.The ships had originally been expected to enter the Suez today (Monday), but Egyptian officials announced the delay this morning, without explanation.
An aerial view of the Suez Canal
Iran inexplicably announced Sunday morning that two of its warships had crossed the Suez, a report that was thoroughly denied by Egyptian authorities. Iranian media did not mention the ships on Monday, and the false report may have been for local consumption. No Iranian ship has been allowed to pass through the Suez Canal since Iran’s 1979 overthrow of the Shah and Egypt’s signing of a peace treaty with Israel the same year.” source – Israel National News
Iran Says Warships Have Already Crossed Suez Canal
Feb 20th
Like two ships in the night
NTEB told you last week that Iran was planning to send to “unarmed” warships through the Suez Canal and into Syria. Egypt on Friday confirmed that they had authorization to do that and that it would happen on Monday. But today, Sunday, Iran is claiming that the ships have already crossed over.
Undated file photo of Iranian warships during naval exercises
Iran’s state broadcaster says vessels reach Mediterranean, despite recent reports that the controversial crossing, the first since 1979, would only take place later this week. Two Iranian naval ships passed through the Suez Canal on Sunday, Iranian media reported, following conflicting reports and speculations on whether or not Egypt’s ruling military would approve the move. ”Two Iranian warships have passed through the canal and are heading towards a Syrian port,” Al Alam said. Israel has called their passage through the canal “provocative”.
The report by Iran’s state broadcaster Al Alam came after a Suez Canal official claimed that the Iranian vessels were to sail through the the Mediterranean on Monday, in what will be the first passage of Iranian naval ships through the canal since 1979. Suez Canal officials denied the Iranian report later Sunday, insisting that the voyage would take place, as planned, on Monday. The official said the vessels were to arrive at the southern mouth of the canal in the Red Sea’s Gulf of Suez on Sunday. They were then planned to enter the canal in the northern convoy on Monday morning and complete the journey to the Mediterranean by evening.” source – Haaretz
Jihad Preached From Tahrir Square, Military Approves
Feb 20th
The sweet sound of freedom
For 18 days, the liberal media feed you story after story of how the “youth” of Egypt were “marching for freedom and democracy”. Never mind, of course, the fact that dozens of women were raped and sexually assaulted during this “freedom march”. Ok, so here we are a week after all the dust settled, let’s see how much “freedom” Egypt is generating.
Jihad openly preached in Tahrir Square
Not only must the Egyptian people go out and conquer Al Aqsa, said Qaradawi, but Cairo must open the Egyptian-Gaza Strip border to “our brothers,” the Palestinian Hamas.
al-Qaradawi on Friday called for Muslims to "take Jerusalem", and scrap the peace treaty with Israel.
Thursday, Feb. 17, the Muslim Brotherhood was allowed to take charge of opposition demonstrations in the emblematic Tahrir Square and given permission to build a platform, after the other opposition parties and movements had been refused.
Ahead of the big event Friday night, the soldiers withdrew from the square and the Brotherhood’s strong-arm brigades move in. Opposition leaders who tried to mount the platform alongside Brotherhood speakers were thrown off and dragged out of the square without the army interfering. Debka
Iranian warships to cross Suez Canal for first time since 1979
For the first time in three decades, Iranian war ships received permission to transit the Suez Canal on their way to the Mediterranean and Syria, and return to the Red Sea and home base by the same route. The military rulers must have realized they were giving Tehran a leg up for its expansionist aspirations and strengthening the Iran-led alliance Turkey, Syria, Hizballah and Hamas. Al those allies have ports on the Mediterranean.
Just as Saudi Arabia welcomed those same Iranian war ships at Jeddah to tell the Obama administration that Riyadh was turning its face toward Tehran and away from Washington, so too is the military regime in Cairo signaling Washington and Jerusalem that Mubarak’s policy of boycotting Iran and keeping the Shiite revolutionaries of Tehran at a distance from of Egypt, Sinai and the Suez Canal is history. Debka
As we predicted
So there you have it – ONE week after the “freedom riots” – Jihad preached openly in the streets with calls for death to all Jews. Ah freedom, sweet freedom.
Suckers.
