DUBAI: Iran couldtarget US commercial ships including oil tankers, the US MaritimeAdministration said, as a senior Iranian cleric said a US Navy fleet could be"destroyed with one missile." In the latest tense exchange betweenTehran and Washington, Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards separately saidIran would not negotiate with the United States, a stance that seemed partlyaimed at discouraging Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his moderate alliesfrom taking up a US offer of talks.
US PresidentDonald Trump on Thursday urged Iran's leaders talk with him about giving uptheir nuclear program and said he could not rule out a military confrontation.Trump made the offer as he increased economic and military pressure on Iran,moving to cut off all Iranian oil exports this month while beefing up the USNavy and Air Force presence in the Gulf.
Acting US DefenseSecretary Patrick Shanahan approved a new deployment of Patriot missiles to theMiddle East, a US official said. The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln,deployed as a warning to Iran, passed through Egypt's Suez Canal on Thursdayand American B-52 bombers have also arrived at a US base in Qatar, US CentralCommand said.
Iran has dismissedboth moves - which the United States said it took after US intelligencesignaled possible preparations by Tehran to attack US forces or interests - as"psychological warfare" designed to intimidate it. In an advisoryposted on Thursday, the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) said that sinceearly May there had been an increased possibility of Iran or its regionalproxies taking action against US and partner interests.
These included,MARAD said, oil production infrastructure, after Tehran threatened to close thevital Strait of Hormuz chokepoint through which about a fifth of oil consumedglobally passes. "Iran or its proxies could respond by targetingcommercial vessels, including oil tankers, or US military vessels in the RedSea, Bab-El-Mandeb Strait, or the Arabian Gulf," MARAD said."Reporting indicates heightened Iranian readiness to conduct offensiveoperations against US forces and interests."
Heated rhetoric
Millions ofbarrels of oil pass daily through the various bottlenecks from Middle East oilproducers to global markets. US-Iranian tensions have risen since Trumpwithdrew a year ago from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and major powers andbegan ratcheting up sanctions to throttle Tehran's economy. Vice Admiral JimMalloy, commander of the US Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, told Reuters onThursday its forces were on a heightened state of readiness, although the USmilitary was not seeking or preparing for war with Iran.
MARAD saidUS-flagged ships were encouraged to contact the Fifth Fleet at least two daysbefore sailing through the Strait of Hormuz. The fleet's job is to protectcommercial shipping in the area. Washington further tightened sanctions on Iranthis month - eliminating waivers that had allowed some countries to buy its oil- with a goal of reducing Tehran's crude exports to zero. Iran responded byrelaxing some curbs on its nuclear program concerning material stockpiles butcontinues to comply with commitments to restrict its uranium enrichmentactivity.
Rhetoric hasgrown heated on both sides. The semi-official ISNA news agency quoted hardlinerAyatollah Tabatabai-Nejad in the city of Isfahan as saying: "Theirbillion(-dollar) fleet can be destroyed with one missile. "If they attemptany move, they will ... (face) dozens of missiles because at that time(government) officials won't be in charge to act cautiously, but instead thingswill be in the hands of our beloved leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei)," hesaid.
'Sanctions haveno effect!'
Separately,Yadollah Javani, the elite Revolutionary Guards' deputy head for politicalaffairs, said: "No talks will be held with the Americans, and theAmericans will not dare take military action against us." "Our nation... sees America as unreliable," he said, according to the semi-officialTasnim news agency, echoing a stance Iran has taken since the US withdrawalfrom the 2015 deal under which Iran curbed its nuclear program in return forrelief from economic sanctions.
Thousands ofIranians took part in state-sponsored marches on Friday to support thegovernment's decision to reduce limits on its nuclear program. Iran hasthreatened to go further if other parties to the deal - Britain, China, France,Germany and Russia - fail to shield it from US sanctions. State TV showedprotesters marching after Friday prayers in Tehran and said similar marches hadbeen held across Iran. "America should know, sanctions have noeffect!" chanted the protesters. - Reuters