US plans for Persian Gulf naval build-up to warn Iran

The US is planning to position an aircraft carrier group in the Persian Gulf after the new year as a warning to Iran, a foreign news agency reported citing unnamed officials.

According to the Daily Times, the Pentagon was deploying a major build-up of naval forces in and around the Persian Gulf in response to what the United States considered "increasingly provocative acts by the Iranian government." The report said that Iranian naval exercises, support of Shiite militias in Iraq and its enrichment of nuclear fuel were the reasons for the US' concern.

However, it stressed that the US did not intend to attack Iran, but rather "discourage its leaders from spreading their Shiite revolution."