Iran holding massive naval maneuvers near Persian Gulf
Iran on Tuesday launched a large-scale, six-day naval maneuver in the Sea of Oman, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, which will involve about 60 warships and numerous aircraft, the official news agency IRNA, reported. This type of "maneuver has been rare in the past 30 years both in its size and commissioning of new weapons," IRNA quoted the maneuver's spokesman, Adm. Ghasem Rostamabadi, as saying. Iran regularly holds war games in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, which are linked by the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which 40 percent of the world's crude oil passes. Tehran has repeatedly warned that it would close the narrow strait if the US or Israel attacked its disputed nuclear program. Israel’s former deputy defense minister, Ephraim Sneh, said on Tuesday that "Iran's unprecedented naval activity is actually a drill for taking over the Gulf all-important oil route. "The Iranian aggression is a threat to the entire world and should not be passed over quietly," warned Sneh.