Egypt allowed at least one Israeli and 11 American warships to pass through the Suez Canal as an Iranian flotilla approaches Gaza. Egypt closed the canal to protect the ships with thousands of soldiers, according to the British-based Arabic language newspaper Al Quds al-Arabi.
One day prior to the report on Saturday, Voice of Israel government radio reported that the Egyptian government denied an Israeli request not to allow the Iranian flotilla to use the Suez Canal to reach Gaza, in violation of the Israeli sea embargo on the Hamas-controlled area.
International agreements require Egypt to keep the Suez open even for warships, but the armada, led by the USS Truman with 5,000 sailors and marines, was the largest in years. Egypt closed the canal to fishing and other boats as the armada moved through the strategic passageway that connects the Red and Mediterranean Seas.
Despite Egypt’s reported refusal to block the canal to Iranian boats, the clearance for the American-Israeli fleet may be a warning to Iran it may face military opposition if the Iranian Red Crescent ship continues on course to Gaza.
The warships may exercise the right to inspect the Iranian boat for the illegal transport or weapons. Newsweek reported that Egyptian authorities could stop the ship for weeks, using technicalities such as requiring that any official documents be translated from Farsi into Arabic.
The magazine’s website also reported that the Iranian navy is the weakest part of its armed forces. Tehran has already backed down from announced intentions to escort the Iranian ships with "volunteer marines” from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
excerpt http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138164
So a flotilla of ships leaving the Gulf of Aden and entering the Red Sea are ‘approaching’ Gaza? I guess.
Maybe ships leaving Norfolk are ‘approaching’ N. Korea?
What’s the point of ships passing into the Red Sea from the Med, if the flotilla ‘approachin’ Gaza actually IS approaching Gaza?
Maybe Iran expressed its intention that the destination of the flotilla IS Gaza, ergo passage through Suez will be necessary (which Egypt stated it would not prohibit). To head this event off, a fleet of U.S. / Israeli vessels are headed into the Red Sea for a showdown.