Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted "cancerous" Israel today, a day after its premier Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the planned passage of Iranian warships through the Suez Canal.
"The fake Zionist government is a cancerous tumor and the cause of different diseases and political, economic calamity in the region," the commander-in-chief of Iran told officials while marking the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed which in the Shiite calendar fell on Monday.
"The arrogance (Iran's standard term of abuse for the United States) is doing its best to preserve this war-mongering tumour, but today the hatred of regional nations towards this cancerous tumor is more evident," state television quoted him as saying.
Khamenei's remarks come as two Iranian warships are set to pass through the Suez Canal - first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution - which has raised concerns in arch-foe Israel.
Netanyahu denounced the naval deployment on Sunday, saying, "Today we are witnessing the instability of the region in which we live and in which Iran is trying to profit by extending its influence by dispatching two warships to cross the Suez Canal.
"Israel views with gravity this Iranian initiative and other developments that reinforce what we have said in past years about Israel's security needs," he added.
The passage of ships has been put back to Wednesday. Egypt gave its green light on Friday for patrol frigate Alvand and support ship Khard to transit the canal into the Mediterranean headed for Syria.
The okay came a week after the fall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, a longstanding US ally in the region.
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 Fars news agency has said.
Both ships were built in Britain during the 1970s for Iran, which ordered them before the Islamic revolution.
Earlier this week, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman called the transiting of the ships a "provocation."
But an Iranian diplomat said it was a routine visit in line with cooperation between Iran and Syria.
The animosity between Iran and Israel has grown under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
