A handout picture released by the official Iranian press agency IRNA shows the Iranian support warship 'Alvand' docked at Syrian port of Latakia after transiting through the Suez Canal, February 24, 2011 (file photo)

Iran says two of its warships are passing through the Suez Canal on Thursday en route back to the country.

A state media report says the patrol frigate Alvand and the logistical ship Khark entered the canal from the Mediterranean Sea after a training mission to Syria.

Early in the Iranian voyage, Israel described the ship movements as a "provocation." Iranian naval ships had not used the Suez Canal since the country's 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran's naval chief, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, told reporters in Damascus last week that the ships' voyage was intended to reinforce Tehran's defense capabilities.