and head games — in Persian GulfTEHRAN — Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard held war games Thursday in the strategic Persian Gulf oil route, the Hormuz Strait, a show of its military strength at a time when the country’s leaders are depicting President Barack Obama’s new nuclear policy as a threat.
Ahead of the military maneuvers, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Washington of trying to dominate the world through its nuclear arsenal and vowed that Iran would not bend before what he called “implicit atomic threats.”
Khamenei was referring to Obama’s announcement earlier this month of a new nuclear strategy that focuses on preventing the spread of weapons.
Khamenei’s rhetoric depicted Washington as seeking to dominate Iran. It seemed aimed at retaining his support at home as Iran tries to fend off a new U.S. attempt to win a fourth round of U.N. sanctions.
Iran has been holding military maneuvers, dubbed The Great Prophet, in the strategic waters of the Persian Gulf annually since 2006 to show off its military capabilities.
They also serve as an implicit warning of the consequences if the United States or Israel attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Iran’s leaders have said in the past that if attacked, the country would respond by shutting off the Strait of Hormuz, the mouth of the Gulf. Through that passage comes 40 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
They have also said they would aim counterattacks at American bases in the Gulf.
