Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Central Command is aggressively planning a naval buildup in the Gulf region, in response to a series of actions by Iran, NBC News reported Tuesday.

    These actions include Iran's interference in Iraq, recent military naval exercises in the Gulf, and its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, according to the report.

    The attempt at "gunboat diplomacy" is in its final planning stages and could happen as early as January.

    On Monday, the Bush administration said Iran was making headway in building nuclear weapons.

    While not predicting when Iran would join the nuclear club, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Iranians were trying to perfect technology to enrich uranium.

    Iran has denied an effort to build nuclear weapons and says its work is for energy development.