US carrier 'must stay out of Gulf'

Tensions between Iran and the US increased further today after Tehran threatened to take action against an American aircraft carrier if it returned to the Gulf.

The warning came at the end of a 10-day naval exercise staged by Iran to demonstrate its control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 per cent of the world's traded oil is shipped.

Iranian officials have said Tehran could close the straits if the US enacts tough new sanctions that risk crippling the country's oil industry.

In the most aggressive statement yet after weeks of sabre-rattling, Iranian army chief Ataollah Salehi warned the USS John C Stennis, which leads the US task force in the region, not to challenge Iran's dominance of the straits. The carrier had moved to the Arabian sea during Iranian manoeuvres to provide air support for the war in Afghanistan.

"Iran will not repeat its warning," Mr Salehi said. "I recommend and emphasise to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf. We are not in the habit of warning more than once." The US dismissed the threat, claiming it was proof that sanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear programme were working.

"The deployment of US military assets in the Persian Gulf region will continue as it has for decades," a spokesman said.

The US is preparing tough new sanctions that would ban dealings with Iran's Central Bank. That would deeply hurt Iran's oil exports since most countries and companies use the bank to buy Iranian crude.

The prospect has caused a collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which fell by 40 per cent against the dollar in the last month.