Iran tried this week to divert attention from the growing unrest within its cities by sending two warships through the Suez Canal for the first time in over three decades.
The Israeli Navy monitored the situation but refrained from taking action against what was described by a senior defence source as "a provocation".
The frigate Alvand, a 41-year-old warship built in Britain for the Iranian shah, is the flagship of Iran's navy and has been retrofitted in recent years with Chinese missiles, but it is not considered a match for Israel's advanced missile boats and submarines.
As thousands continued to take to the streets in Tehran and other Iranian cities, defying the regime's orders and a crackdown by the Revolutionary Guard, Israeli defence officials regarded the passage of the Alvand and the accompanying supply ship, the Kharg, as an attempt to make some political capital out of the downfall of the regime's enemy, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
