US Brushes Off Iran's Aircraft Carrier Threat

The White House has dismissed Iran's threat to take action against a US aircraft carrier in the Gulf as a sign the regime is under pressure from new sanctions.
Amid rising tensions over the West's response to Iran's controversial nuclear programme, the head of the country's army said it would take unspecified measures if the USS John C Stennis passed back through the Strait of Hormuz.
"The enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasise to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," Ataollah Salehi said.
Iran has been holding military exercises in the region and has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% of the world's traded crude passes, if sanctions target the country's oil industry.
The USS John C Stennis, which leads a US Navy task force based in Bahrain, left the Gulf through the Strait on December 27.
It is now in the Arabian Sea, providing air support for the war in Afghanistan.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the threat was "confirmation that Tehran is under increasing pressure for its continued failure to live up to its international obligations".
"Iran is isolated and is seeking to divert attention from its behaviour and domestic problems," he said.
Iran's currency has fallen by 40% against the dollar in the last month as sanctions have bitten and the country faces political uncertainty with an election in March, the first since a 2009 vote that triggered countrywide demonstrations.
The latest sanctions signed into law by US President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve would cut financial institutions that work with Iran's central bank off from the US financial system, blocking the main path for Iran to receive payments for its oil.
The European Union is expected to impose new sanctions by the end of this month.