Iranian navy ships return from Syria through Suez

Two Iranian naval ships returned from Syria through the Suez Canal Tuesday, a Suez Canal source said.

The ships entered the canal from the Mediterranean Sea early in the morning, heading south toward the Red Sea, and were expected to leave the canal Tuesday afternoon, the source said.

The ships had docked at the Syrian port of Tartous, in a show of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a regional ally of Iran according to Iranian state run media

Mystery

The Pentagon said on Tuesday it had no indication that Iranian ships had docked in Syria over the weekend, contrary to an account by Iran’s state-run media.

“We have absolutely no indication whatsoever the Iranian ships ever docked in Syrian ports,” said Pentagon spokesman George Little, adding that the United States believed the ships in fact “did not dock in Syria.”

“It seems this was a relatively routine transit through the (Suez) Canal and now, apparently, back,” he said.

Reuters