TEHRAN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said Tuesday that the Iranian naval forces enjoy full intelligence command over all the movements of U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, Press TV reported.
"We monitor all the movements of U.S. warships and have intelligence command over their activities," Sayyari was quoted as saying.
"The presence of U.S. warships in the free waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is in accordance with international law and we have not allowed the U.S. to enter our territorial waters," said the Iranian commander.
The Kingdom of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf is home to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and United States Fifth Fleet.
The United States and over 25 other countries will hold the largest scale mine-sweeping exercise on Sept. 16-27 in the Persian Gulf, in a show of unity and a defensive step to prevent Iran from attempting to block oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
Under Western sanction pressures on Iran's oil exports, a number of Iranian commanders have threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz and to block the flow of oil through this international waterway.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Obama administration is taking a range of steps short of war to force Iran to take more seriously negotiations over its disputed nuclear program, in hopes of forestalling an Israeli attack, a U.S. newspaper reported Monday.
These steps include planned naval exercises and new anti- missile systems in the Persian Gulf, and a more forceful clamping down on Iranian oil revenue, the New York Times reported in a front-page story. Full story
JERUSALEM, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for setting "clear red lines" for Iran to curb its nuclear plan, while a former judge warned that a military move against Iran now could be dangerous.
"The international community is not putting down a clear red line for Iran," Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet meeting, adding that "Iran is not seeing the international community's determination to stop its nuclear program, and it won't stop until it will." Full story
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