A top Iranian official warns the US and UK to avoid schemes aimed at wresting control of the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran and the Persian Gulf states are solely in charge of safeguarding the regional security.
“We provide the regional security in collaboration with the countries in the region,” said Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei at a Wednesday conference in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
“For the establishment of security in this region, there is no need for extra-regional forces and we believe that the presence of the US and Britain mainly brings about insecurity,” he added.
Rezaei was making reference to the recent letter by US President Barack Obama to Iran about the Strait of Hormuz, and noted that if Washington and London are concerned about the regional security they had better leave the region.
PressTv
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the United States military is not taking any special steps to prepare for a potential crisis with Iran in the Gulf.
Speaking at the Pentagon on January 18, Panetta said the U.S. military is already "fully prepared" to deal with any Iranian effort to close the Strait Of Hormuz, which is used to transport around one-third of the world's seaborne oil exports.
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