Iran says ready to respond, but US aircraft carrier no threat
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LONDON - Iran said on Monday it was ready to respond to any hostile US action, but it did not consider the arrival of a US aircraft carrier in the Gulf last week as a significant threat.
The USS John C. Stennis entered the Gulf on Friday, ending a long absence of US aircraft carriers in the region as tensions rise between Tehran and Washington.
"The presence of this warship is insignificant to us," Iran's Navy commander Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency.
"We will not allow this warship to come near our territorial waters in the Persian Gulf," he added.
Sayyari said the US navy was allowed to sail in international waters near Iran, just as the Iranian navy could sail in the Atlantic Ocean near US waters.
He said, however, that Iran was on alert for possible threats. "They do not have the courage or ability to take any measures against us. We have enough capabilities to stand against their actions and we have fully rehearsed for that."
