US Navy cmdr.: Iranian attempt to seal passageway would be act of war
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The commander of US naval forces in the Persian Gulf says any attempt by Iran to seal off the strategic Strait of Hormuz would be viewed as an act of war.
An Iranian newspaper reported over the weekend that one of the country's generals said Iran would take control of the key oil passageway in the Gulf if it were provoked.
Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, commander of the US Navy's 5th Fleet, told journalists in Bahrain on Monday that "any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz is an act of war" and said the US would not allow it.
The US 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain, across the Gulf from Iran. In a Jan. 6 incident in the Gulf, the US says Iranian high-speed boats charged US warships and threatened to blow up the convoy.