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Iranian Warships Return Through Suez Canal After Stop In Syria

February 21, 2012

Two Iranian warships were reported to have passed south through the Suez Canal on February 21 after a stop in the Syrian port of Tartus.

Reports quote Suez authorities as identifying the ships as the same Iranian destroyer and supply vessel that passed through the canal on February 18 on their way to Syria's Mediterranean port.

Iranian state media on February 20 confirmed that the ships had docked at Tartus.

Syrian opposition activists in Lebanon have alleged that the Iranian warships may have delivered "sophisticated weapons and tapping equipment" to help Syrian authorities trace activists and opposition leaders.

It is the second time Egypt's military rulers have allowed Iranian ships to pass through the Suez since the ouster last year of Hosni Mubarak, who had prevented Iranian warships from using the canal for more than three decades.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iranian_warships_return_through_suez_canal_from_syria/24491680.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.