The US has sent a letter to Iran regarding its threatened closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday, without revealing the letter’s contents.
“The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, sent a letter to Mohamed Khazaie, Iran’s UN representative, which was conveyed by the Swiss ambassador, and finally Iraqi President Jalal Talabani delivered its contents to officials” in Iran, the official Irna news agency quoted Ramin

Mehmanparast as saying.
“We are in the process of studying the letter and if necessary we will respond.”
The US has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, and Swiss diplomats handle US interests there.

“We are in the process of studying the letter and if necessary we will respond.”
The US has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, and Swiss diplomats handle US interests there.

On Friday, the New York Times, citing unnamed US officials, reported that Washington had used a secret channel to warn Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that closing the narrow strategic waterway would cross a “red line” and provoke a response.

The US officials did not provide details about the covert communication channel, except to say that it was separate from the Swiss government.

Tehran threatened to close the strait—a chokepoint for one fifth of the world’s traded oil—late last month, in the event of a military strike or severe tightening of international sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme.

Washington is beefing up its naval presence in waters just outside the Gulf in response to the threats.
Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of Iran’s armed forces, claimed that any US aggression would fail.

“Despite their propaganda, the US knows that it does not have the ability to halt the Islamic Republic’s activities in certain areas, notably in closing the Strait of Hormuz,” Jazayeri was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying yesterday.

“The policy of Iran is to resolve the tensions and... to guarantee the security of all the traffic in the Gulf.
“But if the interests of Iran and the Islamic world are in danger, our armed forces have the ability to confront those wishing to create trouble in the region,” he added.

Source:www.Gulf-times.com