Voyage to Syria: Iran seeks Closer Ties with Egypt

Foreign Policy of Iran-11

Dr. Abdul Ruff

All western-Israeli terror threats have not stopped Iran from pursuing its legitimate interests, including nuclear facility and better ties with other Muslim nations, apart from general ties with nations across the world.

Israel wants the Arabs and Iran fear the Zionist military power being reinforced by the Western terror powers. USA-UK terror twins have unofficially entrusted the Mideast region to Israeli control so that arms trade cold be pursued with terrorized Arab nations.

Last week, following the ouster of President Mubarak, Egypt's military government said it would honor all its international treaties. That would include Camp David. Now it finds itself in the position of allowing ships belonging to the sworn enemy of its peace treaty partner to sail through. However, Israel is worried about the future course of Egyptian policy for Israeli Zionism, UK colonialism and US imperialism. The global bosses UNSC-5 have divided the world and its resources plus affairs among themselves and their roguish allies like Israel and India – both are known terrocracies, pretending to be great “democracies and victims”.  

The unfolding of new relationships between Iran and Turkey has already annoyed Tel-Aviv which has exploited the rifts in the region to its advantages. Growing ties between them do not suggest that Israeli terror interests cold be protected in the region any longer.  It looks as though Tehran is trying to further increasing its influence and presence in the region by exerting assertiveness in the region and Iran also seems to be gauging Zionist response to Iranian legitimate presence. Already, Israeli gimmicks do not work as it used to until recently.

Even as both USA and Israel try to control the future of Egypt, in a move that appears to put Egypt's new military regime in a prickly position with Israel, two Iranian warships planned to sail through the Suez Canal for the first time in 30 years en route to Syria and Iran has on 16 Feb sought permit for two of its warships to pass the Suez Canal  amid chaos in the region which is perceived in Israel as a  test of Egypt's new leadership.Earlier, Iran's Fars news agency had reported on Jan. 26 that Iranian navy cadets had been dispatched on a year-long training mission going via the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea and on through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea.

The destination of the ships was reported as Syria, which has been officially at war with Israel since 1967. Iran said earlier that the flotilla was on a yearlong intelligence-gathering and training mission to prepare young cadets to defend Iran's cargo ships and oil tankers, according to the Fars News Agency. Israel says it is panicked. It was not immediately clear why the ships were seeking to train in the Mediterranean, which would be in the neighborhood of arch-enemy Israel and of Syria, an ally of Iran, and Lebanon, where Iranian ally Hizbollah is powerful. Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper described the Iranian ships as a MK-5 frigate and a supply vessel. No Iranian naval vessels have passed through Suez since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979, causing a bitter rift between Tehran and Cairo.

Now the post-Hosni Mubarak caretaker government must decide whether to give a green light to the Iranian warships, believed to be the first that would sail through the Suez since the Islamic republic's 1979 revolution. The Egyptian official confirmed that permission will likely be granted. But Egypt might find itself in muddy water over the Suez. The canal is an internal body of water and as such, Egypt has sovereignty over it. But Egypt also is bound by the 1976 Camp David Accords, which guaranteed the right of free passage by ships belonging to fascist Israel and all other nations on the basis of the Constantinople Convention of 1888. Before that, Egypt did not allow Israeli ships to sail through the canal.

The Suez Canal Authority said no Iranian naval vessels had passed through the port since the 1979 revolution.  The canal authority's website states that ships intending to sail northbound must be in place by 6 a.m. No Iranian ships were there on Thursday, but Iran's state-run Press TV reported the warships were making their way from the Red Sea toward the Mediterranean. Ahmed El-Manakhly, the transit director of the Suez Canal Authority, had said that no official request from Iran had been received. Warships planning to cross the canal must ask permission of Egypt's defense and foreign ministries, El-Manakhly said. The Suez Canal does not deny any commercial ships from passing as long as we are not in a state of war," Ahmed El Manakhly, a member of the Suez Canal board. For warships to pass through the canal, approval from the ministry of defense and the ministry of foreign affairs is needed and this applies to all warships owned by any country.

The ousted regime of Mubarak and his deputy Omar Suleiman policed Israel's southern flank, stopping arms shipments across the Sinai desert. Iran's four British-built Alvand frigates have sporadically patrolled the Gulf of Aden since 2007 on counter piracy missions. Washington said it was aware of the ships but had no information about what they were doing.

Emerging new regime in Cairo would prefer a close affinity with the Arab world even if it affects the Israeli fortunes in the region. Egypt's decision, the analysts said, could serve as a barometer for the direction the military caretakers intend to take the Arab world's most populous nation. Since Washington agreed to a $13 billion, 10-year military aid package to Egypt in 2007, some maritime analysts privately said Washington could pressure Egypt's new military caretaker government to say no to Iran, but in vain. It does raise an unwelcome political issue that has to be resolved. There is not a war between Iran and Egypt the Egyptians will let the Iranians through. Former President Hosni Mubarak might have done similar manner as well. The Iranians want a frigate -- the Alvand -- and a military supply ship -- the Kharg -- to cross into the Mediterranean. Both are armed with missiles. Their passage would create more uncertainty in the region. The CIA-Mossad gang claims this is typical of Syrian-Iranian opportunism and it is destabilizing as it raises tension, particularly in this time of transition in Egypt" 

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Entire world, including the notorious UNSC and NATO have not been able to contain Israeli fascism in Palestine. Israel had said the two Iranian military vessels had been expected to sail Wednesday night through the Suez on their way to Syria."This is a provocation that proves that the self-confidence and insolence of the Iranians is growing from day to day; This happens after the Iranian president's visit to south Lebanon and his aggressive declarations there towards Israel," Israel said.

Israeli illegal settler turned foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, who is on record saying that all Palestinians must be thrown into the Dead Sea, did not mention Egypt by name but said Israel's allies should pay close attention to the situation. "We expect the international community to act speedily with determination against the Iranian provocations, designed to deteriorate the situation in the area, and put the Iranians in their place," he said. The Israeli Defense Ministry said Israel was monitoring the movement of the Iranian ships and alerted its allies. At the US State Department, spokesman P.J. Crowley said the USA is also watching the situation. Washington said it was aware of the ships but had no information about what they were doing. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's hardliner Jew warned that the development posed a new threat to the country's security. He said: "To my regret, the international community is not showing readiness to deal with the recurring Iranian provocations. The international community must understand that Israel cannot forever ignore these provocations."

Israel pretends that it faces a major threat in Iran's nuclear program and calls for its elimination, but the countries' geographical distance has kept them from open confrontation. Syria is one of Israel's neighboring foes and an ally of Tehran. Lieberman warned that the development posed a new threat to the country's security. He said: "To my regret, the international community is not showing readiness to deal with the recurring Iranian provocations. The international community must understand that Israel cannot forever ignore these provocations."

Meanwhile, regional protests in Mideast continued to spread as hundreds took to the streets of Benghazi, Libya's second city, to call for the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Hundreds of pro-democracy supporters were arrested in Algeria, as hopes of freedom swept the Arab world. Protests also continued in Yemen, Bahrain and Iran. Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas.

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Meanwhile, regional protests in Mideast continued to spread as hundreds took to the streets of Benghazi, Libya's second city, to call for the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Hundreds of pro-democracy supporters were arrested in Algeria, as hopes of freedom swept the Arab world. Protests also continued in Yemen, Bahrain and Iran. Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas.

The Iranian move appeared designed to test the stance of the new Egyptian regime to Tehran following the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, who was an implacable foe of the Islamic Republic. Reports of the Iranian passage also sent jitters through the global market and oil prices spiked for a time. The Suez Canal serves as a key waterway for international trade, allowing ships to navigate between Europe and Asia without having to go all the way around the vast African continent. Millions of barrels of oil move through the Suez every day on the way to both Europe and North America.

Interestingly, the west and its terrorist media have projected Iran as a bad state because it continues with Islamic goals. USA is eager to bring back the Shah rule in Iran removing its Islamic agenda. In tune with the policy of the Iranian government for pro-Islamic ties, Iran seeks closer ties with Egypt. If Israel feels nervous about the Iran’s move, then, fault lies with Zionist fascist rends alone. It is high time Israel reset its terror polices to make somewhat humane and pro-Palestine. That will endear itself not just to the Palestinians whose lands it occupies and whom the Israeli state terrorists keep killing on some pretext or other, but also Arabs and entire Islamic world. That would benefit Israel in the long run. If, however, the Zionist regime still plays its old dirty gimmicks of pretending to be threatened by “enemy”, it should change its concept of enemy by changing all its policies- both domestic and foreign.

As the top most priority, Israel must stop raising fake threat perceptions and also recognize the legitimate concerns of Iran and Palestine