Iraanse vloot stoomt op naar Syrië ( Middellandse Zee )
Iraanse vloot richting Syrië, gezamenlijke oefening volgt
Het is de tweede keer sinds de islamitische revolutie dat Iraanse marineschepen het Suezkanaal passeren, richting de Middelandse zee. Doel is om een gezamenlijke oefening te houden waarbij Iran zijn “macht” kan tonen en “een boodschap van vrede en vriendschap ” af kan geven aan de regio. Israël is uiteraard zeer alert.
Iran to conduct joint exercises with Syria?
Published: 18 February, 2012, 19:21
Iranian patrol frigate Alvand transits through the Suez Canal on February 22, 2011. (AFP PHOTO/STR)
An Iranian flotilla has arrived in a Syrian port to provide maritime training to the country’s navy, media reports. It’s only the second time Iranian warships have sailed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
The ships have docked in the Syrian port of Tartus some 220 kilometres from the capital. They are due to take part in a joint training exercise with Syrian navy which was organised last year, the Mehr News Agency reports. Syria is the only country in the region which has an agreement on naval cooperation with Iran.
The flotilla belongs to Iran’s 18th fleet and comprises the destroyer Shahid Naqdi and supply ship Khark. Admiral Habibollah Sayari confirmed “for the second time since the Islamic revolution,” its ships passed through the Suez Canal.
Sayari added that the mission was intended to show Tehran’s “might” and take a “message of peace and friendship” to the region.
Meanwhile, Iran’s old foe, Israel, is keeping a close eye on the situation.
“We will closely monitor the movement of the two ships to ensure they do not approach the Israeli coast,” an Israeli official is quoted by AFP.
