By Mina al Oraibi

Washington, London, April 24, 2010 – Whilst Iran’s Revolutionary Guard began the Great Prophet 5 naval maneuvers in the Arabian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz that involved the use of 313 speedboats and rocket ships, US Vice President Joe Biden stated Thursday said that he expected the Security Council to impose new sanctions on Iran at the end of April or beginning of May. He confirmed that Israel will not attack Iran before the option of sanctions is exhausted.

In a television interview with ABC, Biden said that China would agree to imposing economic sanctions on Iran. He added that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran was extremely fragile and that the Iranians were still far away from being able to produce a nuclear bomb.

On his part, US National Security Advisor General James Jones stressed that the US was determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and added that “Iran’s sponsorship of terrorist actors in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza signaled a continued determination to sow its brand of violence and coercion across the Middle East.”

In a similar context, US Department of Defense played down the significance of the Iranian naval maneuvers. However, official spokesman for the Great Prophet 5 maneuvers, Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri told Fars News Agency that “on the first stage of the war games, the IRGC successfully covered the expanse of the Persian Gulf waters using native high-speed boats.”

Source: Asharq Al-Awsat, April 23, 2010  

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives | Search