Iran on Thursday confirmed earlier reports that its two warships which had docked in a Syrian port last month were returning via the Suez Canal, dpa reported.
The news network Al-Alam quoted navy officials as saying that the frigate Alvand and the supply ship Kharg have entered the Suez Canal, steaming toward the Red Sea on their way back to Iran.
The two Iranian warships, the first to enter the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal since 1979, docked on February 24 at the Syrian port of Latakia.
Israeli officials have described the Iranian naval mission as a "provocation."
Iran's navy chief Habibollah Sayari however said that the visit by the two warships to Syria was not meant to provoke anyone but they were "carrying a message of peace to the nations of the world."