DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy is cutting short home leave for the crew of one of its aircraft carriers and sending them back to the Middle East next week to counter any threat from Iran, according to the official Navy News Service.
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told sailors aboard the USS Stennis in their home port of Seattle on Wednesday they were needed back in the Middle East soon, after approving calls from theU.S. Central Command for Stennis to return to the region.
"Obviously, Iran is one of those threats," the U.S. military news service quoted Panetta as saying during a send-off event at a military base on the U.S. West Coast.
"Secondly, it is the turmoil in Syria," he said. "We're obviously following that closely as well."
The Stennis' departure in January from the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operationsprompted Iranian army chief Ataollah Salehi to threaten action if it returned, saying Iran was "not in the habit of warning more than once".
The threats started a war of words between Iran and the United States that spooked oil markets, and fears over possible military confrontation remain high.
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