US sends new warship to replace
Eisenhower
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MANAMA • The US Navy said yesterday it had ordered an aircraft
carrier to the Gulf to replace one of two patrolling the region, as
the United States winds down naval war games on Iran’s doorstep.
The Nimitz carrier strike group will sail from San Diego for the
Gulf on Monday, a navy spokesman said, to replace the Dwight D
Eisenhower, as tensions mount between Iran and the West over
captured British troops and Iran’s nuclear programme.
“She (the Nimitz) will be deployed to the Gulf region. She is the
relief for Eisenhower, who leaves and she replaces her,” Lieutenant
Commander Jeff Davis said by telephone from Naval Headquarters in
Washington.
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Fifth Fleet spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Charlie Brown said
there were currently no plans for more. “We do not expect to have
three carriers in the Gulf region ... but we cannot talk about
future needs or future operations,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned
the US not to aggravate tensions with Iran with its naval presence
in the Gulf.
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IRANIAN EXERCISES
The Fifth Fleet has said a decision to hold the exercises was taken
within the last two weeks, and planning for the drills accelerated as
tensions mounted between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear programme
and its capture of British sailors.
Spokesmen for the fleet, based in the Gulf island state of Bahrain, have
said the exercises were meant to reassure allies of the US commitment to
security and stability in the region. Only US ships took part in the
manoeuvres.
In February Iran said it had tested missiles that could “sink big
warships” in the Gulf.
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