Warships in the Suez Prepare for Iran Attack
Y Net News � July 16, 2009

Israeli missile class warships sailed through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea ten days after a submarine capable of launching a nuclear missile strike, in what the British Times Online quoted an Israeli defense official as saying �should be taken seriously".

The move was apparently done in preparation for a possible attack on Iran�s nuclear facilities, and the official said, "Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats.�

The report came two days after two Saar class missile boats � the most advanced in the IDF's possession - crossed the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Arab sources said the movement was only a drill.

The defense official went on to say, �It is not by chance that Israel is drilling long-range maneuvers in a public way. This is not a secret operation. This is something that has been published and which will showcase Israel�s abilities.�

The source mentioned Israel's past covert long-range drills, such as that over Greece last year and reports that surfaced of an Israel Air Force exercise over Gibraltar.

According to the Times, the upcoming long-range exercises by the Israeli Air Force in the United States later this month and the test of the Arrow interceptor missile on a US missile range in the Pacific Ocean.

Israel has recently tightened diplomatic ties with Arab countries that also fear a nuclear Iran. . In particular, relations with Egypt have grown increasingly strong this year over the �shared mutual distrust of Iran�, according to one Israeli diplomat.

Israeli naval vessels would likely pass through the Suez Canal for an Iranian strike. And an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine already passed through the Suez several weeks ago.

The submarine returned to the Mediterranean Sea a few days later, and an Israeli defense official said shortly after the move that Israel has no intentions of permanently positioning a submarine in the Red Sea, "therefore, we are minimizing our naval activity in Eilat".

According to foreign reports, the Dolphin-class submarine, is capable of carrying missiles with nuclear warheads, that are meant to enable Israel to strike in the event of an Iranian attack.