Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Israeli warships cross Suez Canal

|
|
 
  
Published: July 15, 2009 at 6:50 AM

JERUSALEM, July 15 (UPI) -- For the second time in weeks, two Israel navy warships crossed the Suez Canal and headed to the Red Sea, military officials said.

The action was seen as a warning to Iran, local media reported.

Israeli army officials confirmed missile boats had sailed through the international waterway, just weeks after a Dolphin class submarine and missile boat crossed the canal to take part in maneuvers in the Red Sea, Maariv said Wednesday.

One of the ships spotted Tuesday crossed the canal last month, the paper said. The canal is considered to be the fastest route for navy vessels traveling from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea or Persian Gulf, the paper said.

Responding to the report, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said his country permits warships to sail through the canal as long as they have no hostile intentions, The Jerusalem Post said.

Israel has two reasons for maintaining a naval presence in the Red Sea, Haaretz said. To halt arms smuggling from Iran to the Gaza Strip, which it said mainly takes place by sea from Iran to Sudan and overland via Egypt. The second reason the paper said is to boost Israel's deterrence against Iran.

Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
"Any self-important, self-propagating elitist, I will happily bare my buttocks to"
Note to the youngsters out there: if a legend dies and you want to sneak into his or her inner sanctum...
You don't have to be too smart to coach high school sports. Just smart enough to not post nude photos...
There's vandalizing your school, and then there's doing a million dollars damage to your school
Police say Taylor Burnham, 18, was only wearing cowboy boots as she led police on a Sunday morning...
If you're working as a dog groomer and accidentally chop off a dog's ear, don't try to glue it back,...