Two Iranian navy ships have left Egypt's Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean, a source in the canal authority said today.
The source said the frigate and the supply ship were expected to return through the canal on March 3rd.
The Suez Canal cuts through Egypt and allows shipping to pass from the Middle East to Europe and vice versa without circumnavigating the southern tip of Africa.
The canal's northern mouth, Port Said, is about 100km from Israel, but the ships' route to Syria, their intended destination, would take them parallel to the Israeli coast.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said he would take a "grave view" of the passage of the ships, the first Iranian naval vessels to go through the canal since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran appears to be testing the state of affairs in the Middle East after the fall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. A longstanding peace treaty with Egypt is crucial to Israel's regional security.
Israel is anxious about political upheaval in Egypt and other Arab states aligned with its ally the United States.
Polls in Egypt suggest most of the main political forces will be less compliant with Israel and its ally the United States, although no group has called for the abrogation of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.
Egypt's ruling military council, facing its first diplomatic headache since taking power on February 11th, has approved the vessels' passage through the canal, a vital global trading route and major source of revenues for the Egyptian authorities.
The decision was a difficult one for Egypt's interim government. Cairo is an ally of the United States while its relations with Iran have been strained for more than three decades.
Reuters