West Africa: Naval Exercises East Saharan Express 2014 have begu

Naval forces from the United States along with African and European maritime partners on Thursday March 6 commenced the fourth annual multinational exercise Saharan Express 2014.

The exercise, being held in waters off West Africa, is an at-sea maritime exercise designed to improve cooperation, tactical expertise and information sharing practices among participating nations in order to increase maritime safety and security in the region.

The week-long exercise will take place in two areas near the coasts of Cape Verde and Senegal. There will be an in port preparatory phase and then the 11 participating ships will go to sea to test maritime security skills.

“Over the course of the next two weeks, we will work on interoperability, communications, coordination and familiarization. More than that, though, we will work to come together more closely as a team linked by the common purpose of ensuring regional maritime security,” said Capt. John Tokarewich, Saharan Express 2014 exercise director, in remarks during an opening ceremony in Dakar. “Through cooperation on events like Saharan Express, we are able to provide a more robust and unified team to ensure regional maritime security.”

Read more: Exercise Saharan Express 2014 begins | defenceWeb

US, and allies hold major naval drill near Hormuz

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