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Empresas y finanzas

U.S. won't let Iran shut Gulf


    ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United States will not allow Iran to block the Gulf, the waterway that carries crude from the world's largest oil exporting region, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday.

    "Iran will not attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz and wewill not allow them to close the Strait of Hormuz. I can't sayit anymore clearly than that," Vice-Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, thecommander of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, told a conference onGulf naval security in Abu Dhabi.

    The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in remarkspublished last week that Tehran would impose controls onshipping in the Gulf and the strategic Strait of Hormuzwaterway if it was attacked.

    Washington says its warships were threatened by Iraniancraft in the Strait of Hormuz in January. Tehran dismissed itas a routine contact and accused the United States ofexaggerating for propaganda purposes.

    Asked whether he was worried incidents between U.S. navalships and Iranian guard boats could escalate, Cosgriff said hewas concerned because he did not know whether the Iranianvessels were controlled directly by the government in Tehran orby local commanders.

    The Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain.

    Iran is embroiled in a standoff over its nuclear ambitionswith the West, which says Tehran wants to make atomic bombs.Iran says it has only peaceful plans to produce electricity.

    (Reporting by Lin Noueihed; Writing by Ola Galal)