TEHRAN:Iranian warships entered the Mediterranean Sea after crossing the Suez Canal on Saturday in a move aimed at showing Iran's “might” to regional countries, navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari said.

“The strategic navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has passed through the Suez Canal for the second time since the (1979) Islamic Revolution,” Sayari said in remarks quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

He did not say how many vessels had crossed the canal, or what missions they were planning to carry out in the Mediterranean, but said the flotilla had previously docked in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.