Iranian warships enter the Mediterranean Sea

Saudi Gazette - TEHRAN - Iranian warships Saturday entered the Mediterranean Sea after crossing the Suez Canal to show Tehran’s “might” to regional countries, Admiral Habibollah Sayari, navy commander, said.
“The strategic navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has passed through the Suez Canal for the second time since the (1979) revolution,” he said in remarks quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
The announcement comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, fueled by the longstanding dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program and rising speculation that Israel might launch preemptive strikes against Iranian facilities.
The move comes as William Hague, British Foreign Secretary, described the ongoing diplomatic standoff with Iran “a crisis coming down the tracks”.
Referring to Iran’s reluctance to sit down with diplomats from Western countries in order to fend off more sanctions, or even military conflict, Hague said it is a “potential disaster” for world affairs.
The first Iranian presence in the Mediterranean in February 2011 provoked strong reactions. Then two Iranian vessels, a destroyer and a supply ship docked at the Syrian port of Latakia before returning to Iran via the Red Sea.
Iran’s navy has been boosting its presence in international waters in the past two years, deploying vessels to the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden on missions to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates.
And Iran sent submarines to the Red Sea last June to “collect data,” its first such mission in distant waters, while its naval commanders say they plan on deploying ships close to US territorial waters in the future.
Iranian naval forces are composed of small units, including speedboats equipped with missiles, which operate in the Gulf and are under the command of the Revolutionary Guards. The navy, using small frigates, destroyers, and three Russian-made Kilo class submarines, oversees high seas missions in the gulfs of Oman and Aden.
It now permanently has at least two vessels in those areas to escort merchant ships, and has been involved in more than 100 confrontations with armed pirates, according to the navy commander in December. — AFP