The United States and its allies have launched the biggest naval exercises ever in the Middle East with battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines in the Persian Gulf amid the row over Iran’s controversial nuclear program.
The exercises are taking place near the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has threatened to close over the economic sanctions imposed over its nuclear program. U.S. Navy officials insist that the anti-mine exercise is not about any specific country or a response to Iranian threats to shut the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the gulf, the route for one-fifth of the world’s oil. Iran has said its forces will be monitoring the maneuvers. “We are very sensitive about security in the highly strategic Persian Gulf and we are watching closely,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
“The exercises are based on a hypothetical threat to mine the international strategic waterways of the Middle East, including the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, and the Persian Gulf,” the U.S. Central Command said in July.
The head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards warned of retaliation against the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. bases in the Middle East and Israel if his country was to be attacked. General Mohammad Ali Jafari said the Strait of Hormuz would be a legitimate target for Iran should it be attacked.
“This is a declared policy by Iran that if war occurs in the region and the Islamic republic is involved, it is natural that the Strait of Hormuz as well as the energy (market) will face difficulties,” Agence France-Presse quoted him as saying.
Jafari suggested that U.S. military bases would also be fair game for retaliation by Iranian missiles or proxy forces. “The U.S. has many vulnerabilities around Iran, and its bases are within the range of the Guards’ missiles. We have other capabilities as well, particularly when it comes to the support of Muslims for the Islamic republic,” he said.
EU-Digest
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