transition in Egypt, Schenker said. This is typical of Syrian-Iranian opportunism. Egypt's decision, analysts said, could show the direction that the military caretakers intend to take the Arab world's most populous nation. It does raise an unwelcome political issue that has to be resolved, said Cmdr. James Kraska of the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island. Iran said earlier that the flotilla was on a yearlong intelligence-gathering and training mission to prepare cadets to defend Iran's cargo ships and oil tankers from the threat of attack by Somali pirates, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency. Asked about Iran's assertion that the ships are going to Syria for training, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday, My initial response to that would be we 're highly skeptical of that. Asked whether he was concerned about the shipstravel plans, he said, It's not really about the ships. It's what are the ships carrying, what's their destination, what's the cargo on board, where is it going, to whom, for what benefit. We have, you know, ongoing concerns. Those concerns were shared by the White House, where Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One, We 're monitoring that, obviously, but we also would say that Iran does not have a great track record for responsible behavior in the region, which is always a concern for us. Israeli