WarSclerotic

Iran starts month-long naval exercises in Strait of Hormuz – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Iran has threatened to close the strategic waterway in retaliation for Western sanctions; on Friday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned against strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

By The Associated Press and Reuters

Iran says its powerful Revolutionary Guard is starting naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, the critical Gulf oil tanker route that Iran has threatened to close in retaliation for tougher Western sanctions.

Iranian state media said Saturday the warships will conduct a month of maneuvers. Western navies, meanwhile, have boosted their presence in the Gulf led by the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

Iran has made no attempts to disrupt shipping through the strait, the route for one-fifth the world’s crude oil. The U.S.and allies have said they would respond to any blockade.

The Iranian war games follow stern warnings by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, about any possible U.S.or Israeli attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Obama administration is increasingly anxious about Israeli leaders’ provocative public comments on Iran’s nuclear program but does not have hard proof that Israel will strike Iran in the near future, according to U.S. and European officials.

Iranian navy fires a Mehrab missile during the “Velayat-90” naval wargames in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran on January 1, 2012.

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