The USS Abraham Lincoln passes through Hormuz without incidentDEBKAfile Special Report
January 23, 2012, 2:28 AM (GMT+02:00)
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta aboard the USS Enterprise
Three weeks after Tehran threatened action against any US aircraft carrier entering the Strait of Hormuz, Washington took two actions. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta disclosed Sunday, Jan. 22, that the USS Enterprise Carrier Strike Group would steam through the strategic strait in March; a few hours later,
the US Navy sent the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier through the strategic strait. Panetta's words carried an ultimatum for Tehran: Submit to nuclear diplomacy or face up to the full might of the US carrier fleet.
debkafile reported earlier Sunday:
The Iranian threat was issued on Jan 4. The USS Stennis aircraft carrier passed through the Strait of Hormuz into the Sea of Oman on Dec. 28 during a big Iranian naval exercise Velyate 90 and was then prevented by the threat from re-entering. That was the last time an American warship navigated the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world's oil is shipped to market.
However Panetta, on his first visit to a carrier during operations at sea, clad in the uniform of the ship's crew, told an audience of 1,700 personnel that the US would maintain a fleet of 11 carriers despite budget pressures.
"That's what this carrier is all about. That's the reason we maintain a presence in the Middle East. We want them to know that we are fully prepared to deal with any contingency and it's better for them to try to deal with us through diplomacy."
debkafile's Washington sources note that Panetta was the first high-ranking administration official to give Tehran an ultimatum: Accept the American offer to negotiate terms for halting your nuclear weapon program, or face up to America's mighty fleet of American aircraft carriers.
"Our view is that the carriers, because of their presence, because of the power they represent, are a very important part of our ability to maintain power projection both in the Pacific and in the Middle East," said the defense secretary.
His statement gave Iran a time frame for responding to the US ultimatum, just over a month. If by March, Tehran has not accepted the offer to negotiate, President Barack Obama will order the Enterprise to sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
Saturday, Jan. 21, the Washington Post disclosed that Obama had sent a special emissary to Tehran with an oral message proposing that Iran join the United States for resumed nuclear negotiations.
The emissary was not named, although there was some speculation that the Turkish Foreign Minister was chosen for the mission - nor was Iran's reply revealed.
According to the WP, the message ran as follows: The United States and the international community have a strong interest in the free flow of commerce and freedom of navigation in all international waterways. Since taking office, the president has made it clear that he is willing to engage constructively and seriously with Iran about its nuclear program.
Also on Saturday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards stated it considered the likely return of US warships to the Gulf part of its routine activity.
Some American and Israeli media interpreted this as Iran climbing down from its truculent threat to US aircraft carriers entering the Strait of Hormuz. debkafile's Iranian sources don't think so. The Guards issued their statement only after they saw the USS Stennis, the object of their threat, exiting the Gulf Friday, Jan. 20, and decided it was the Americans who had backed down.
Panetta's comments Sunday aimed at correcting that impression and making it very clear to Tehran that although the Stennis was gone, America would maintain the freedomof navigation through the Strait of Hormuz for all shipping and its carriers were "fully prepared to deal with any contingency."
