<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[First Iranian ships cross Suez&nbsp;Canal]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span id="ctl00_body_spnDetail"></p>
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<div id="divNewsDatetime">PressTV &#8211;  Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:1AM</div>
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<p><img src="https://i2.wp.com/previous.presstv.ir/photo/20110222/fathi20110222051333140.jpg" alt="" width="450px" height="300px" /></p>
<div id="divImageDesc">An Iranian Alvand class frigate</div>
<div id="divLead">Two  Iranian warships have crossed the Suez Canal and are heading towards  the Mediterranean Sea after Egypt issued authorization for the move.</div>
<p>The two Iranian vessels, Khark and Alvand, crossed the Suez Canal, a  strategic international shipping route in Egypt, on Tuesday.</p>
<p>&#8220;They entered the canal at 5:45 a.m. (0335 GMT),&#8221; Reuters quoted an official of the canal as saying.</p>
<p>The 1,500-ton patrol frigate Alvand is armed with torpedoes and  anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-ton supply vessel Khark has  250 crewmembers and can carry three helicopters.</p>
<p>A Lebanese security official, who asked not to be named, earlier  said the passage of the two Iranian naval ships through the Suez Canal  has been delayed due to stormy weather off Syrian and Lebanese coast.</p>
<p>Egypt&#8217;s official news agency, MENA, reported on Friday that Cairo  had &#8220;agreed to allow the two Iranian warships to transit the Suez  Canal.&#8221;</p>
<p>This marks the first time since the victory of Iran&#8217;s 1979 Islamic  Revolution that Iranian warships have been allowed to use the Suez  Canal.</p>
<p>Iran&#8217;s Navy has announced that dispatching Iranian vessels to the  Mediterranean is aimed at strengthening friendly relations with other  countries and conveying Iran&#8217;s message of peace and security in  international waterways.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed  concerns on Sunday over the passage of the two Iranian ships through the  Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.</p>
<p>&#8220;Israel views with gravity this Iranian initiative and other  developments that reinforce what we have said in past years about  Israel&#8217;s security needs,&#8221; he claimed in a statement released by his  office.</p>
<p>&#8220;Today we are witnessing the instability of the region in which we  live and in which Iran is trying to profit by extending its influence by  dispatching two warships to cross the Suez Canal,&#8221; added the premier.</p>
<p>SF/MB/HRF</span> <span id="ctl00_body_spnRelated"></p>
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<li><a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166330.html">Storm delays Iran navy&#8217;s Suez passage</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166183.html">Israel concerned over Iran warships </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/165939.html">Egypt allows Iranian ships to cross Suez</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/165696.html">Iran says warships to cross Suez Canal</a></li>
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<p><a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166429.html">PressTV &#8211; First Iranian ships cross Suez Canal</a>.</p>
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