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Panetta Says U.S. to 'Respond' if Iran Blocks Strait of Hormuz
[An Nahar] The United States will respond if Iran tries to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... warned Sunday, saying such a move would cross a "red line." "We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz," Panetta told CBS television. "That's another red line for us and that we will respond to them." Panetta was seconded by General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said Iran has the means to close the waterway, through which 20 percent of the world's oil passes. "But we would take action and reopen the Straits," the general said on the same show, "Face the Nation." Their comments follow Iranian threats to close the strait if the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... goes through with an embargo on Iranian oil, the latest step to pressure Tehran to give up a nuclear program that the West suspects is aimed at gaining atomic weapons. Posted by: Fred 2012-01-09 |
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