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White House denies stepped up tension with Iran
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 03 29 07
The White House Wednesday denied ratching up tension with Iran with increased military exercises in the Gulf region, but stressed US support for Britain as Iran holds 15 of its sailors.
"These military exercises were long planned and so there is no escalation of tension on our part," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
"Now, we do stand with our British allies and stand behind (Prime Minister) Tony Blair as he works to get these 15 soldiers back from the Iranians," she said.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said the exercise involving two US aircraft carrier strike groups in the Gulf -- unusual because two such naval formations are rarely in the same area at the same time -- is aimed at reassuring friends and allies, not raising tensions with Iran."We are not interested in confrontation in the Gulf," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.
The US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said two air wings from the aircraft carriers would conduct exercises while warships from the strike groups practice anti-submarine, anti-surface and mine warfare.
President George W. Bush ordered a second US carrier to the Gulf in January amid a mounting diplomatic confrontation with Iran over its uranium enrichment program and US suspicions that it is bent on developing nuclear weapons.
The second carrier raised the US naval presence in the Gulf to its highest level since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Oil prices soared Wednesday in New York to their highest levels in six months on fears of a burgeoning military conflict.
Iran controls traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway to more than 40 percent of the world's energy, and has in the past boasted of its power to strangle the world's energy supply if pressured.
Amid mounting tensions over the soldiers' capture, Britain announced a freeze on all official ties with Iran.
AFP 28 1503 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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