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| The head of Iran's navy, Commander Habibulah Sayari, December 2011 [Image Source] |
Almost exactly a year ago to the
day, we wrote here ("20-Feb-11:
Iranian warships have/haven't transited the Suez Canal [check one]")
about two Iranian warships sailing through
the Suez Canal and eventually docking in Syria. Much Syrian blood has been let
since then (somewhere between five and seven thousand people, as we wrote in our
Friday posting). And now they're doing it again.
The Iranian navy
says (according to The
Telegraph today) they are in the Mediterranean, having passed through
the Suez Canal, to convey Tehran's "message of peace and
friendship." A report tonight,
quoting an Iranian agency, says two Iranian navy vessels docked at the
port of Tartus in Syria yesterday (Friday). It says the vessels, described by
the Iranians as a destroyer and a cargo ship, are there to train the Syrian navy.
Iran's global
satellite news channel PressTV says it a little differently. The Iranian
boats (it does not name them) sailed to Tartus, 220 kilometers northwest of
Damascus, to provide "maritime training" to Syria’s naval forces
under an agreement signed between Tehran and Damascus a year ago. It explains
Iran's elevated naval energy levels this way:
"The
Iranian Navy, in line with international efforts against piracy, has been conducting
anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to safeguard
maritime trade and in particular ships and oil tankers owned or leased by
Iran. Last May, International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary
General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos described the anti-piracy efforts by Iran's
Navy as “effective”."
It's of course possible to think of Iran sending its naval resources
around the neighborhood to satisfy its treaty obligations and to uphold the
law, but experience with the messianic Islamists of Tehran suggests to look for
other explanations. An
Iranian website quotes Iran's
navy commander Habibollah Sayyari saying this is a show of might as well as a “message of peace”.
"The
Navy’s 18th fleet will in the best way carry the message of peace and
friendship to regional countries and display the might of the country and the sacred system of the Islamic
Republic of Iran,” Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said during a meeting
with a number of Navy commanders and personnel. The naval fleet will prove
that enemies’ sanctions against the Islamic Republic have neither hindered
Iran’s scientific progress nor decreased the country’s military
capability"
and so
on.
The BBC says tonight that the two-boat mission comprises
the destroyer Shahid Qandi and its supply vessel the Kharg (which is one
of the Iranian vessels that sailed to Syria last year), and that they
docked en route at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Whether or not this advances Iran's "sacred system" is not clarified by the BBC.
The killings of
civilians by government forces in Syria, meanwhile, continued apace today. A syndicated
AP report says:
Syrian
security forces fired live rounds and tear gas at thousands of people marching
Saturday in a funeral procession that turned into a protest in Damascus,
killing at least one person, activists said. It was one of the largest
demonstrations in the capital since the 11-month uprising against President
Bashar Assad began.
A UK
newspaper ("Will Iran unleash its war of terror on the UK?")
reminds us today of Iran's global capabilities in the context of a somewhat
sensational article arguing that the upcoming Olympics in London may be a
target of Iranian terror. Leaving aside the article's speculations about the
future, it refers to the three Iranians detained by Thai authorities after this
week's bombing of an Israeli vehicle:
"Saedi
Moradi, who lost his legs, Mohammad Kharzei and Masoud Sedaghatazadeh are said
by Western intelligence sources to be from the elite Quds unit of Iran’s
125,000-strong Revolution Guards Corps, ruthless enforcers who have agents in
Iran’s embassies worldwide."
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