US sends second carrier to the Gulf (Iran "most active" state sponsor of terrorism)

[MikeWB]

They're intensifying the volume of false stories. Is war close?! It could be.

US sends second carrier to the Gulf
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Last updated: 11:02 PM BST 30/04/2008
America said it had despatched a second aircraft carrier group to the Gulf on Wednesday, as the State Department branded Iran the world's "most active" state sponsor of terrorism.

Robert Gates, the defence secretary, said the deployment of two aircraft carrier battle groups in the Gulf was a "reminder" to Tehran of US determination to defend its interests in the region.

The Abraham Lincoln moved through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday to join the Harry Truman, which is not due to leave the Gulf until the weekend.

The nuclear-powered Lincoln takes over as the flagship of a massive multi-nation fleet policing the world's most important oil transit corridor at a time of increasing tension with Iran.

A US ship fired warning shots on Iranian small craft last week, an incident that pushed the price of crude oil to a record high.

"This deployment has been planned for a long time," Mr Gates said.

"I don't think we'll have two carriers there for a protracted period of time. So I don't see it as an escalation. I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder."

Adml Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, reinforced the stiff message to Tehran by pointing out the importance of America's maritime operations at a time when the army was deeply committed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The annual terrorism report from the State Department said Iran armed, trained and funded a constellation of groups, from Hizbollah in Lebanon to Shia groups in Iraq, as well as the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"A critically important element of Iranian national security strategy is its ability to conduct terrorist operations abroad," it said.

The report conceded, however, that the Iranians were driven by a fear of US military action against it.

Separately, it emerged on Wednesday that Iran had shifted all its revenues from oil sales to euros and yen, becoming the first country in the world not to accept dollars for hydrocarbon sales.

Story from Telegraph News:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -Gulf.html