U.S. Fifth Fleet says won't allow Hormuz disruption

Friday, December 30, 2011

U.S. Fifth Fleet says won't allow Hormuz disruption

Iran's army's navy commander Habibollah Sayyari (L) gestures as he speaks with media during the Velayat-90 war game on Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran December 28, 2011. 'Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran's armed forces is really easy ... or as Iranians say it will be easier than drinking a glass of water,' Sayyari told Iran's English language Press TV. REUTERS-Fars News-Hamed Jafarnejad

A military personnel works on a map at a naval ship during the Velayat-90 war game on Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran December 28, 2011. 'Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran's armed forces is really easy ... or as Iranians say it will be easier than drinking a glass of water,' Iran's navy chief Habibollah Sayyari told Iran's English language Press TV. REUTERS-Fars News-Hamed Jafarnejad

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran. Military personnel place a flag on a submarine during the Velayat-90 war games by the Iranian navy in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran December 27, 2011. REUTERS-IIPA-Ali Mohammadi

By Parisa Hafezi and Humeyra Pamuk

TEHRAN/DUBAI | Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:23pm EST

(Reuters) - The U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran threatened to stop ships moving through the world's most important oil route.

"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated," the Bahrain-based fleet said in an e-mail.

Iran, at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program, said on Tuesday it would stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports.

"Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran's armed forces is really easy ... or as Iranians say, it will be easier than drinking a glass of water," Iran's navy chief Habibollah Sayyari told Iran's English-language Press TV on Wednesday.

"But right now, we don't need to shut it ...," said Sayyari, who is leading 10 days of exercises in the Strait.

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