Two Iranian warships sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, an act that prompted Israel to put its navy on high alert, dock at Syrian port of Latakia

Two Iranian warships sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, an act that prompted Israel to put its navy on high alert, have docked at the Syrian port of Latakia Thursday, press reports said.

"The two Iranian naval vessels have moored at Latakia on the Syrian coast," an Iranian diplomatic source told AFP.

According to the source, a reception ceremony was held on Friday at Latakia in the presence of Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayari, commander of the Iranian navy, who arrived in Damascus on Wednesday.
 
Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Sayari as saying the mission to transit the Suez Canal and sail past occupied Palestinian territories to Syria had been accomplished without regard for Israeli concerns. "The Zionist regime may create concern for itself and look at this issue from its own view but we will carry out our plans regardless of this regime and in coordination with the friendly nation in the region," Sayari said. "The trip of our warships to the Syrian port of Latakia is an ordinary visit of the navy and carried the message of peace and friendship," IRNA quoted him as saying from Damascus, where he arrived on Wednesday.

Sayari denied media reports that the ships, the first Iranian vessels to transit the Suez Canal since the 1979 Islamic revolution, will be involved in any military drills. "A number of Iranian navy cadets are present and they are on a long training voyage," he said.

The two ships transited the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday, prompting Israel to warn it would respond immediately to any "provocation" as it put its navy on high alert.

The 1,500-tonne Alvand is normally armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-tonne Kharg has a crew of 250 and facilities for up to three helicopters, Iran's official Fars news agency has said. Neither ship is carrying chemical or nuclear material, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency has reported.

United States said this week it is "watching carefully" the movements of the two ships. "We continue to monitor the movements of these ships and their actions," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "We will be watching carefully to see where these ships go and the implications of that."