"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it."
--- Admiral Josh Painter - (Fred Dalton Thompson) Hunt for Red October - 1990
Posted on 02/19/2011 7:35:54 PM PST by library user
~ EXCERPT ~
(Reuters) - Two Iranian naval ships will sail through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean on Monday, a Suez Canal official said, in what will be the first passage of Iranian naval ships through the canal since 1979.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has described Iran's plan to send the ships through the canal en route to Syria as a "provocation."
The official said the vessels would arrive at the southern mouth of the canal in the Red Sea's Gulf of Suez on Sunday. They would enter the canal in the northern convoy on Monday morning and complete the journey to the Mediterranean by evening.
An Egyptian army source said on Friday that the military, which has been running Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled from power on February 11, had approved Iran's request to send the ships through the canal.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it."
--- Admiral Josh Painter - (Fred Dalton Thompson) Hunt for Red October - 1990
These ships are likely carrying arms to Syria so they can be passed to Israel's enemies without inspections or any other outside oversight. For all we know they could be weapons of mass destruction. Iran is certainly capable of producing them. The fact is they've been preparing for war for some time.
A freighter might be boarded and inspected.
Who's going to board a war ship and inspect what its carrying?
This is more than provocation.
It is a direct threat that is fulfilling a part of a larger plan.
I would suggest that those boats are likely dedicated to a strategic mission and would not be used for something like this.
SSGs are Israel’s SSBNs.
The Suez Canal may be blocked with two sunken Iranian Naval Vessels.
Why give the MB the power of ransom, just block it and do the work around for Europe now.
At that time, Obama was credited with some cooperation in the region against the influence of Iran's nuke program.
Guess that was a big failure, in the end, though. Surprise, right?!
Israeli warships’ passage through Suez Canal causes a stir
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/24/world/fg-suez-warships24
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The MFO is supposed to keep the peace, there. But, as usual, most nations of the ME simply ignore the UN’s enforceless resolutions...of course, this was another of Carter's baby's.
The MFO
http://www.mfo.org/contingents-United%20States.php
The actual treaty:
http://www.mfo.org/images/documents/aboutMFO/treaty.pdf
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Now, with Iran mirroring what Israel did in 2009 through the canal...shouldn't we be also looking out for a submarine? LOL.
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Egypt belongs to the Islamists again and is no longer at odds with Iran. This is what this tactic by Iran is intended to show - their solidarity with Egypt again.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Haaretz has a story where the Iranians have stated their ships have already passed through the canal.
It depends on what is being transported in those two ships.
Hopefully Israel will blow them out of the water.
I'm not ready to equate this mini-flotilla to the U.S.S. Indianapolis, though. Problem is....it would take an actual act of war to prove something was on it. As insane as the rhetoric is from the Iranian leadership, they understand how to provoke and inflame.
Those ships are carrying weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon from what I heard on Fox the other day and it makes it faster and easier for Iran to transfer these weapons through the Suez.
I agree, that, I believe, is their intent.
Although a provocation, Israel would have little difficulty sending these vessels to the bottom of the ocean.
In the whole scheme of things....the Iranian naval presence is insignificant until they demonstrate the ability to launch cruise missiles either from submarines or surface ships.
Even at that, they may get off one or two....then the Iranians would have to launch a search and rescue.
It’d be a shame if they mysteriously blew up and blocked the canal.
They’ll have Israeli subs keeping a close eye...
ARTICLE I
The Suez Maritime Canal shall always be free and open, in time of war as in time of peace, to every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag.
Consequently, the High Contracting Parties agree not in any way to interfere with the free use of the Canal, in time of war as in time of peace.
The Canal shall never be subjected to the exercise of the right of blockade.
It was re-ratified under Nasser and reamins in effect to this day. Interestingly, it also ties the UK's hands too.
Article IV explicitly forbids Egypt (and also the UK) from taking any hostile action in the Canal even if it's one of the belligerents in a war.The only action permitted is to stop open hostilites in the Canal itself. No side-picking is allowed, so it means putting a stop to all belligerents.
If an Israeli sub knocks out those warships, the Egyptional government is obliged under the treaty to haul in the Israelis. Like it or not, that's how the treaty reads.
The vessels bound for Syria are not expected to enter the canal before Tuesday or Wednesday, according to maritime sources in Egypt. On Sunday, the frigate Alvand and the supply ship Kharq were still near the southern entrance to the canal.
The vessels bound for Syria are not expected to enter the canal before Tuesday or Wednesday, according to maritime sources in Egypt. On Sunday, the frigate Alvand and the supply ship Kharq were still near the southern entrance to the canal.
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