Iran keeps an eye on US carrier
Source: Agencies |
December 30, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IRAN broadcast a video said to be of a United States aircraft carrier during Iran's ongoing navy drills near a strategic waterway in the Persian Gulf, the official IRNA news agency reported yesterday.
The report did not provide details and it was unclear what information the Iranian military could glean from such footage.
IRNA quoted Iran's navy chief, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, as saying the action shows that Iran has "control over the moves by foreign forces" in the area where Tehran is holding a 10-day military exercise.
"An Iranian vessel and surveillance plane have tracked, filmed and photographed a US aircraft carrier as it was entering the Gulf of Oman from the Persian Gulf," Sayyari said.
He added that the "foreign fleet will be warned by Iranian forces if it enters the area of the drill."
State TV showed what appeared to be the reported video, but it was not possible to make out details of the carrier because the footage was filmed from far away.
The broadcast came as a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the US was not in a position to tell Tehran "what to do in the Strait of Hormuz."
Iran's threat to block crude shipments through the crucial passage for Middle Eastern suppliers followed the European Union's decision to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, as well as accompanying moves by the US to tighten unilateral sanctions.
Iran's English-language Press TV quoted Hossein Salami as saying: "Any threat will be responded by threat ... We will not relinquish our strategic moves if Iran's vital interests are undermined by any means."
Salami added: "Americans are not in a position whether to allow Iran to close off the Strait of Hormuz."
The US Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday that it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a strip of water separating Oman and Iran.
Iran said earlier it would stop the flow of oil through the strait if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports.
The Strait of Hormuz is the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil supply.
The report did not provide details and it was unclear what information the Iranian military could glean from such footage.
IRNA quoted Iran's navy chief, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, as saying the action shows that Iran has "control over the moves by foreign forces" in the area where Tehran is holding a 10-day military exercise.
"An Iranian vessel and surveillance plane have tracked, filmed and photographed a US aircraft carrier as it was entering the Gulf of Oman from the Persian Gulf," Sayyari said.
He added that the "foreign fleet will be warned by Iranian forces if it enters the area of the drill."
State TV showed what appeared to be the reported video, but it was not possible to make out details of the carrier because the footage was filmed from far away.
The broadcast came as a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the US was not in a position to tell Tehran "what to do in the Strait of Hormuz."
Iran's threat to block crude shipments through the crucial passage for Middle Eastern suppliers followed the European Union's decision to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, as well as accompanying moves by the US to tighten unilateral sanctions.
Iran's English-language Press TV quoted Hossein Salami as saying: "Any threat will be responded by threat ... We will not relinquish our strategic moves if Iran's vital interests are undermined by any means."
Salami added: "Americans are not in a position whether to allow Iran to close off the Strait of Hormuz."
The US Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday that it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a strip of water separating Oman and Iran.
Iran said earlier it would stop the flow of oil through the strait if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports.
The Strait of Hormuz is the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil supply.
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