Pentagon pushes back on Iranian threat - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Pentagon pushes back on Iranian threat

The Pentagon has brushed off a threat from a senior Iranian army leader who warned of consequences if the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis returned to the Persian Gulf.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman George Little said the U.S. will continue to send assets into the Persian Gulf.

“The deployments of U.S. military assets in the Persian Gulf region will continue as it has for decades,” he said. Also, recent transits through the region were a part of “regularly scheduled movements in accordance with our longstanding commitments to the security and the stability of the region in support of ongoing operations.”

The Navy’s transits through the Strait of Hormuz comply with international law and protect maritime freedoms, he said. In a post on Twitter, Capt. John Kirby, another Defense Department spokesman, said that positioning carrier strike groups throughout U.S. Central Command “remain necessary” and will continue.

The U.S. response came after an earlier exchange on Tuesday in which Iran threatened consequences if the U.S. moved an aircraft carrier back into the Persian Gulf. Reuters reported that Iranian Army chief Ataollah Salehi said the U.S. moved a carrier out of the Persian Gulf and into the Gulf of Oman because of his country’s drills in the region; late last month, Iranian warships practiced closing the Strait of Hormuz, a choke-point for around 20 percent of the world’s oil supply. Furthermore, if the carrier returned to the area his country would take action, he said.

“I advise, recommend and warn them over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once,” Salehi said.

He did not specify what type of action his country would take.

While Stennis is in 5th Fleet, two other carriers are on the move. The carrier Abraham Lincoln left Everett, Wash., on Dec. 7, and the carrier Carl Vinson left San Diego Nov. 30. According to photos posted on the Navy’s official website, Vinson was in the Pacific Ocean as of Tuesday. The Navy did not say where the ship was immediately headed. Meanwhile, Lincoln is also in the Pacific.