Iran boasts of surveillance of U.S. aircraft carrier as tensions with Tehran continue to rise
Four mile-wide Strait of Hormuz is world's most important oil shipping lane
Iranian naval official says shutting tankers out of Strait would be 'easier than drinking a glass of water'
Iran has ramped up its war of words with the U.S. - by revealing it filmed and photographed one of its aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.
Tensions between the two countries are escalating on an almost daily basis over Iran's ongoing 10-day navy drill near the strategic Strait of Hormuz - the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil supply.
Official IRNA news agency reported today that a surveillance plane obtained the footage, screen grabs of which are pictured here, in what has been seen as a clear indication that Iran wants to cast its navy as having a powerful role in the region's waters.
Tensions: Iran has ramped up its war of words with the U.S. - by revealing it filmed and photographed one of its aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf
The U.S. doubts Iran will have gleaned any new information from its surveillance of this aircraft carrier
But its report did not provide details and it was unclear what information the Iranian military could glean from such footage.
IRNA quoted Iran's navy chief, Admiral Abibollah Sayyari, as saying the action shows that Iran has 'control over the moves by foreign forces' in the area.
He said: 'An Iranian vessel and surveillance plane have tracked, filmed and photographed a U.S. aircraft carrier as it was entering the Gulf of Oman from the Persian Gulf.
He added that the 'foreign fleet will be warned by Iranian forces if it enters the area of the drill'.
State TV showed what appeared to be the reported video. It was not possible to make out the details of the carrier because the footage was filmed from far away. But fighter jets and personnel can be made out.
Beyond the Strait lies vast bodies of water, including the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Drill: Iran is holding a 10-day military exercise in international waters beyond the Strait of Hormuz - the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil supply
Drill: Iran is holding a 10-day military exercise in international waters beyond the Strait of Hormuz - the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil supply
The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet is also active in the area, as are warships of several other countries that patrol for pirates there.
RESTRICTION OF OIL SUPPLY WOULD DRIVE UP PRICES
If Iran were successfully to block access to the Strait of Hormuz, the price of crude oil would almost certainly rise dramatically.
Around a third of all oil shipped in tankers passes through the strait, and if this supply were disrupted it would out immense pressure on the rest of the world's supplies.
Following a mistaken report that the strait had already been closed, the oil price jumped by $2, to over $100 a barrel.
Although it then fell back, the price is set to rise even if the Strait of Hormuz remains open, as sanctions on Iran and Syria restrict the global supply.
A senior Saudi official has insisted that Gulf nations will be able to make up for any shortfall caused by the sanctions, but this would be of little use if Iran succeeded in cutting off the strait.
The ongoing uncertainty is set to make 2012 another volatile year for the oil markets, following the disruption to supplies caused by the Arab Spring throughout 2011.
Lt. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the U.S. 5th Fleet, said the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis and guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay headed out from the Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, after a visit to Dubai's Jebel Ali port.
She described the passage through the strait as 'a pre-planned, routine transit' for the carrier, which is providing air support from the north Arabian Sea to troops in Afghanistan.
Rebarich did not directly address Iranian claims of possessing the reported footage but said the 5th Fleet's 'interaction with the regular Iranian Navy continues to be within the standards of maritime practice, well known, routine and professional'.
Today's report follows U.S. warnings that it will not allow Iran to choke off one of the world's busiest shipping routes in revenge for sanctions imposed on the country over its secretive nuclear programme.
Last night an American military official said that 'any disruption will not be tolerated' in the Strait of Hormuz, which is used by 40 per cent of the world's oil tankers.
And a Pentagon spokesman warned that Iran would destroy its own 'economic lifeline' if it disrupted the international oil trade.
Tensions rose after Iran’s top naval commander bragged that shutting down the Gulf to oil tankers would be ‘easier than drinking a glass of water.’
The threats triggered an angry response from the U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain. ‘Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated,’ said a spokesman for the Bahrain-based fleet.
‘The free flow of goods and services through the Strait of Hormuz is vital to regional and global prosperity,’ he added.
Britain dismissed the Iranian boasts as an attempt to draw attention from its nuclear ambitions.
Playing down the threat, a Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘Iranian politicians regularly use this type of rhetoric to distract attention from the real issue, which is the nature of their nuclear programme.’
Tehran warned a week ago it would shut down the strategically vital shipping lane if the West took tougher action against Iran.
Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said Iran wouldn’t allow ‘a drop of oil’ to pass through the strait if sanctions were widened.
The row ratcheted up another notch after Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, head of the Iranian navy, declared that ‘closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran’ s armed forces is really easy – or as Iranians say it will be easier than drinking a glass of water.’
The comments drew a quick response from the U.S, with Pentagon press secretary George Little saying: 'This is not just an important issue for security and stability in the region, but is an economic lifeline for countries in the Gulf, to include Iran.'
Iranian media have described how Iran could move to close the strait, saying the country would use a combination of warships, submarines, speed boats, anti-ship cruise missiles, torpedoes, surface-to-sea missiles and drones to stop ships from sailing through the narrow waterway.
Iran's navy claims it has sonar-evading submarines designed for shallow waters of the Persian Gulf, enabling it to hit passing enemy vessels.
A closure of the strait could temporarily cut off some oil supplies and force shippers to take longer, more expensive routes that would drive oil prices higher. It also potentially opens the door for a military confrontation that would further rattle global oil markets.
But Mark Toner, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, responded: 'It's another attempt to distract attention away from the real issue, which is their continued non-compliance with their international nuclear obligations.'
Western tensions with Iran have increased since a U.N report claimed last month that Tehran appears to have worked on designing an atomic bomb.
Iran strongly denies this and insists it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.The possibility of imposing sanctions on Iran has divided U.N members.
Former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney said President Obama should have ordered an airstrike over Iran after their refusal to hand back the unmanned spy plane that crashed last month
Iran has defiantly expanded nuclear activity despite four rounds of U.N. sanctions meted out since 2006 over its refusal to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment.
Many diplomats believe only sanctions targeting Iran's lifeblood oil sector might be painful enough to make it change course, but Russia and China - big trade partners of Tehran - have blocked such a move at the United Nations.
The U.S. Congress has passed a bill banning dealings with the Iran Central Bank, and President Barack Obama has said he will sign it despite his misgivings. Critics warn it could impose hardships on U.S. allies and drive up oil prices.
The bill could impose penalties on foreign firms that do business with Iran's central bank. European and Asian nations import Iranian oil and use its central bank for the transactions.
The threats to close the Strait of Hormuz coincided with a 10-day Iranian naval exercise in the Strait and nearby waters, a show of military force that began on Saturday.
'Our enemies will give up on their plots against Iran only if we give them a firm and strong lesson,' Mr Rahimi said.
Around a third of all shipped oil passes through the four mile-wide Strait between Oman and Iran and U.S. warships patrol the area to ensure safe passage.
Most of the crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq - together with nearly all the liquefied natural gas from lead exporter Qatar is transported through the channel.
Former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney said President Obama should have ordered an airstrike over Iran after their refusal to hand back the unmanned spyplane that crashed last week
Boast: Officials in Iran claim they can 'mass produce' the captured RQ-170 Sentinel drone and build a 'superior' version following its crash on December 4
After a news agency mistakenly reported the strait had already been closed, crude oil prices leapt by almost $2 to $100.45/per barrel, but they later stabilised.
Last month, Iran's energy minister told Al Jazeera that Tehran could use oil as a political tool in the event of any future conflict over its nuclear program.
Tensions over the program have increased since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on November 8 that Tehran appears to have worked on designing a nuclear bomb and may still be pursuing research to that end.
Iran has warned it will respond to any attack by hitting Israel and U.S. interests in the Gulf and analysts say one way to retaliate would be to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Last month former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney said President Obama should have ordered an airstrike over Iran after their refusal to hand back the unmanned spyplane that crashed in November.
During a White House news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Mr Obama said: 'We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond.'
But Mr Cheney told CNN: 'The right response would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it.'
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