Iran Opens Base at Hormuz Strait for Gulf `Defense' (Update2)

By Ladane Nasseri

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Iran opened a naval base on the Strait of Hormuz that's capable of keeping foreign forces out of the Persian Gulf, the chief of the Iranian navy said.

``With this naval base, a new line of defense was created in the Persian Gulf, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari was cited today as saying by state-run Fars News. ``If necessary, we can prevent any enemy from entering the Persian Gulf's strategic area.

The naval chief said the facility, which was inaugurated yesterday, is needed because of the presence of foreign forces in the region. The base in the southern port of Jask, 1,050 miles (1,690 kilometers) south of Tehran, is in the eastern part of the strait at the entrance to the Gulf.

The Strait of Hormuz has been the focus of increasing tension in recent months. Iran has said it may close the strait should the U.S. attack the country over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment as part of a nuclear program. Some 20 percent of the world's oil is shipped through the strait, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

A spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain had no immediate comment on the base opening, saying he wasn't aware of the Iranian report and would look into it.

The Fifth Fleet held maneuvers on July 7 to practice protecting Persian Gulf oil rigs. Days later Iran said its military test-fired a missile with a 2,000-kilometer range.

Revolutionary Guards

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month put Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps in charge of defending the Gulf from possible attacks by the U.S. or Israel. The move came a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran refused to answer questions about possible nuclear-weapons development and expanded production of atomic fuel in further defiance of demands by the United Nations to halt uranium enrichment.

``The powerful presence of the naval forces in the Persian Gulf and the combination of the Revolutionary Guards and armed forces have turned on its head the predictions of enemies,'' said the army deputy commander, General Abdolrahim Mousavi, according to a report on the state-run Iranian Students News Agency today.

``The time for bullying, unilateralism and aggression has ended, Mousavi said while visiting the Jask naval base. ``The sooner enemies realize this, the better for them. Otherwise, they will have to pay heavy costs.

The U.S. and major allies have accused Iran of enriching uranium as part of nuclear-weapons development. The government in Tehran has insisted that the program is intended only to generate electricity, and is legal under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory.

The Bush administration says it favors a diplomatic solution to the dispute, though it hasn't ruled out military attacks.

On June 2, Israeli warplanes carried out an exercise in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that was interpreted by military analysts as a rehearsal for a strike on Iranian nuclear sites.

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