(22 Feb 2011)
Suez Canal
1. Various of an Iranian frigate and supply vessel crossing the Suez Canal
Tel Aviv, Israel
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Meir Javedanfar, Iranian-born independent analyst:
"The crossing of these ships through the Suez canal shows us that we are dealing with a new Middle East. The old political maps of the Middle East should be folded and put away, new ones should be opened. We are looking at new lines in the map because of the political earthquakes that we saw in Tunisia and Egypt, and it's very likely that the government of Iran will want to continue with such acts in order to embolden its position in the Middle east vis-a- vis groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and also to win much-needed credibility back home on the domestic arena."
3. Medium shot of Javedanfar walking away
STORYLINE:
Two Iranian naval vessels entered the Suez Canal on Tuesday en route to Syria, officials said, the first time in three decades that Tehran has sent military ships through the strategic waterway.
Canal officials said the ships - a frigate and a supply vessel - are expected to reach the Mediterranean later in the day.
Israel has made clear it views the passage as a provocation. Israeli officials refused to comment on Tuesday, though earlier this week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he viewed the move "with gravity."
The canal linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean enables ships to avoid a lengthy sail around Africa.
The Iranian ships are headed for a training mission in Syria, a close ally of Iran's hard-line Islamic rulers and an arch foe of Israel. In Syria, officials at the Iranian embassy said it would mark the first time in years that Iranian warships dock in a Syrian port.
The ships paid about 300,000 US Dollars in fees for the passage, according to a Maritime agent. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to speak publicly about the matter.
Iran's request to send the warships through the Suez Canal came at a particularly difficult time for Egypt as the nation's new military rulers try
to focus on pressing domestic issues, including restoring security after the uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.
The military rulers apparently had no choice but to grant the ships passage because an international convention regulating shipping says the
canal must be open "to every vessel of commerce or of war." Egypt also cannot search naval ships passing through the waterway.
Iranian warships have not passed through the Suez Canal since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Egyptian-Iranian ties broke down following the Islamic Revolution and the signing of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty the same year. Later, the
relationship improved slightly, with contacts currently channelled through interest sections in the two capitals.
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