Iran’s army chief on Tuesday warned a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf, as Iran’s navy ended 10 days of tense war games in the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. Defense Department promptly rejected the warning.
Gen. Ataollah Salehi, the commander of the Iranian armed forces, lauded Iran’s defensive skills and lashed out against the USS John C. Stennis and its battle group. The carrier and its accompanying ships left the strategic Persian Gulf last Thursday, their departure filmed by Iranian drones.
“We warn this ship, which is considered a threat to us, not to come back, and we do not repeat our words twice,” Salehi said, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.
The United States has pledged to ensure freedom of navigation through the Persian Gulf and the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which about a third of the world’s crude oil shipments pass. The U.S. Navy maintains a base in Bahrain to support as many as three aircraft carriers and a fleet of support ships plying the shallow waters of the gulf.
Following Western threats to impose an embargo on Iranian oil, Iran threatened to close off the Persian Gulf during the war games but refrained from doing so. Officials have given contradictory statements on whether Iran would make such a move in the future.
Pentagon spokesman George Little said Tuesday: “The deployment of U.S. military assets in the Persian Gulf region will continue as it has for decades. These are regularly scheduled movements in accordance with our longstanding commitments to the security and stability of the region and in support of ongoing operations.”
