Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- Israel's president called the presence of Iranian warships in the Suez Canal a "provocation" and not a serious "threat," but he warned an audience of Europeans that they face an "existential" danger from the regime's nuclear program.
In Iran, a military commander expressed patriotic pride over the development: the first Iranian vessels to sail through the Suez since the Islamic republic's 1979 revolution.
The rhetoric from the two Mideast enemies flowed after two Iranian ships sailed through the Suez Canal Tuesday on their way to the Mediterranean Sea.
The move, which occurred four days after Egypt's post-Hosni Mubarak government gave the green light to their passage, put Egypt's new military regime in a prickly position with its Israeli neighbor.
Israeli President Shimon Peres, speaking on Wednesday at a meeting with government leaders, diplomats and journalists in Madrid, said that while Iran's Suez trip was a "cheap provocation," it is not by itself a serious "threat".
"The real threat stands as a clear warning sign to you and the entire world -- Iran is developing nuclear weapons of mass destruction," Peres said, according to a statement from his office citing his comments. CNN
