U.S. Carrier Group in the Persian Gulf for Intel, Not Threat

U.S. Carrier Group in the Persian Gulf for Intel, Not Threat

Stewart Stogel
Friday, March 16, 2007

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NEW YORK -- U.S. government sources tell NewsMax that the increased U.S. Naval presence in the Persian Gulf is designed to improve intelligence gathering on Iran, not to pose a military threat in the region.

Last January, President George W. Bush announced he would order the aircraft carrier battle group USS John C. Stennis to join the USS Dwight Eisenhower group to "patrol" the Persian Gulf region. The Stennis arrived on station late last month.

The addition of the second battle group raised the U.S. 5th Fleet's presence in the region to its highest level since the U.S.-led allied coalition invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

At the time of the announcement there was widespread speculation that the U.S. action might be a prelude to a possible attack on Iran.

Despite denials by both the White House and the U.S. Department of Defense, the war scenario refuses to die.

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Now, State Dept. sources tell NewsMax that the battle groups presently in the region have a two-fold mission:

First, the U.S. Navy has been assigned to "monitor" air and naval traffic originating from Iran.

Second, the Navy has also been ordered to be prepared to intercept and inspect ships that might be carrying illicit cargo, as defined by U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran.

NewsMax had been told that earlier this year, U.S. intelligence detected an Iranian plane being loaded with illegal arms destined for Syria and, perhaps, an ultimate destination in Lebanon. If true, such actions would violate several Security Council resolutions. The plane's flight plan included a brief stop in Turkey.

The United States, it is said, informed the Turks of the "possible" arms smuggling by the Iranians.

The Turks are reported to have informed the Iranians that they intended to "search" the aircraft once it landed, as per Security Council-imposed regulations.

The Iranians, it is said, reacted by turning the plane around "in mid-flight" whereupon the illicit arms were off-loaded and new "dummy" cargo was on-loaded and the flight, though delayed, proceeded onto Syria, without the arms and without incident.

Just what kind of arms and the amount of the contraband involved was not revealed.

U.S. sources say the marked "improvement" in the extent and quality of its intelligence in the Persian Gulf has been key in getting the U.N. Security Council members to agree on a new set of sanctions on Iran.

Next week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to come to U.N. headquarters to complain about the Security Council's new sanctions on his country. The Council has repeatedly warned Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program or face punitive action.

Iran insists its nuclear activities are "peaceful." The U.S. and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s atomic watchdog, believe that such activities could also be used to secretly build an atomic bomb.

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