Two Iranian warships which were due to head to Syria canceled their plans to pass through Egypt’s Suez Canal, Reuters reported Thursday. According to al Arabiya TV, the Egyptian army refused to give these ships the permit.
Israel was monitoring the vessels movements on Wednesday and warned it might act if the ships crossed through to the Mediterranean Sea. The Suez Canal Authority, the body that runs the strategic canal, was “informed today about the cancellation of two scheduled trips of two Iranian warships and no new date was set to cross the Suez as part of the southern convoy coming from the Red Sea," a canal official told Reuters Thursday.
Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement that it had alerted "friendly nations" about the warships, Reuters reported. On his part, Israel's foreign minister said any transit would be a "provocation."
