Iran Warships Due To Dock In Syria

One of the Iranian naval ships in the Suez Canal near Ismailia

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency says two Iranian warships that this week transited the Suez Canal raising Israeli concerns are due to dock at the Syrian port of Latakia.

The warships were the first Iranian vessels to transit Suez since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Israel has denounced the move as a "provocation" and put its navy on high alert.

IRNA quoted Iran's naval commander, Admiral Habibollah Sayari, as saying the ships posed no threat to the region.

Sayari, who arrived in Damascus on February 23, said the ships were on a training mission.

He refused to say how long they would remain in the Mediterranean.

compiled from agency reports