Iranian Warships Now Through The Suez Canal - And En Route To Syria

Joshuapundit

A few days ago, we saw the unbelievable,never-before-seen spectacle of Iranian warships docking in a Saudi harbor at Jedda.

Today, as blogpal Lt. Commander J.E. Dyer notes, they're transiting the Suez Canal and en route to Syria.

As she points out, this is all about perception:

..the Assad regime will get to have the best of both worlds: a brand-new American ambassador — dispatched in January with vows of “engagement” — and a historic visit from the warships of revolutionary Iran.As Israeli authorities point out, moreover, Iran stated earlier that the naval task force would spend up to a year in the Mediterranean. Its base of operations is likely to be Syria, but triumphal port visits to Beirut are undoubtedly on Tehran’s to-do list.{...}
hese ships can’t fight a war. But the reactions are actually quite rational. The big shift here is in political perceptions of power. The important facts are that revolutionary, terror-sponsoring Iran — under U.S., EU, and UN sanctions — feels free to conduct this deployment, and Syria feels free to cooperate in it. Egypt’s interim rulers apparently saw no reason to block the Suez transit, in spite of the Egyptians’ very recent concern over Iranian-backed terrorists and insurgents operating on their territory. Saudi Arabia, for its part, considered it prudent to host the Iranian warships last week — in spite of the Saudis’ own conviction that Iran has been aiding rebel groups that threaten Saudi territory.


I would add only two observations to Lt. Commander Dyers' commentary. While the Iranian ships may very well make a stop at Beirut, another likely port of call is Turkey, extending Iran's perceived reach considerably. And second, those ships are proceeding in spite of US and UN sanctions,and there's no way to know what they might be carrying in the hold.

The battle lines are definitely being drawn and events are proceeding quickly.