Egypt Will Allow Iran to Send Two Naval Ships Through Suez on Way to Syria

19 February 2011 | 20:39 Code : 10383 General category
Egypt Will Allow Iran to Send Two Naval Ships Through Suez on Way to Syria
 Bloomberg--Egypt yesterday approved a request by Iran to send two warships through the Suez Canal on their way to Syria, a move that has ratcheted up Middle East tensions and driven oil priceshigher.

The decision was reported by Egypt’s state television network and confirmed by an Egyptian military official who would not be identified in line with policy. Iran’s request to use the waterway specified that the vessels don’t hold nuclear or chemical materials, and aren’t carrying or delivering weapons, the official said.

The ships will go to Syria, where they will anchor “for a few days” after a trip through the canal that is “routine according to international law,” Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said, citing the country’s ambassador to Syria, Ahmad Mousavi.

Suez Canal officials didn’t have details on the ships’ arrival date. Crude oil rose to the highest level in a week in New York as anti-government demonstrations continued in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya, heightening concerns that instability in the Arab world will affect energy supplies.

Crude for March delivery settled at $86.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, it touched $87.88. Futures gained 0.7 percent this week. The more active April contract increased 87 cents to $89.71 a barrel.

‘Responsible Behavior’

U.S. financial markets will be closed Feb. 21 for the Presidents’ Day holiday.

The U.S. is “monitoring” Iran’s plan to send warships through the Suez Canal, White House press secretary Jay Carney said yesterday. Iran doesn’t show “responsible behavior in the region, which is always a concern to us,” Carney told reporters traveling on Air Force One to an appearance by President Barack Obama outside Portland, Oregon.

The 120-mile (190-kilometer) Suez Canal carries about 2.5 percent of world oil output, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and is a key route for ships carrying Asian consumer goods to Europe.

The ships are a British-built, 1960s-era Mk-5 frigate and a supply vessel, according to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronot newspaper. Continued

Iran raps US for vetoing UN resolution

Press TV--Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has lambasted the US for vetoing a Security Council resolution which condemns the Israeli regime’s settlement activities in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

“The resolution was approved by the permanent members of the Security Council (except the US), the member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and other UN members,” said Mohammad Khazaei late Friday after the council wrapped up voting on the resolution. 

However, the single “no” vote by the US could annul the unanimous “yes” vote by the other fourteen members, the Iranian official added. 

“The fact that a single vote can revoke the vote of the majority shows the Security Council is structurally weak,” Khazaei noted. 

“This US move once again undermined the credibility of the Security Council,” the top Iranian diplomat went on to say. 

“It is because of such reasons that Iran suggests the United Nations, especially the Security Council, be restructured.” 

The top Iranian envoy predicted that the resolution would be passed at the UN General Assembly with an overwhelming majority of votes. 

“The question of restructuring the UN has been on the table for some 15 years now,” he said. 

Fourteen countries on Friday voted in favor of a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and East al-Quds, but US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice vetoed it. 

“Such cases show the Security Council cannot guarantee to safeguard people’s lives and possessions,” he noted. 

The United Nation has repeatedly condemned Israel for defying international calls to halt its settlement construction activities. 

Palestinians view Israel’s unrelenting settlement construction activities as a major hurdle smothering their efforts to establish an independent state on the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. 

According to data from the Palestinian Information Center, Israel has demolished 995 Palestinian homes and displaced 5,783 individuals -- among them 3,109 children -- in the occupied al-Quds since the start of 2000.