US Claims about Persian Gulf Confrontation a Plot against Iran

TEHRAN (FNA) Iran’s defense minister dismissed White House claims about a hostile confrontation between Iranian and US navy vessels in the Persian Gulf, describing US allegations as a plot to make regional and world countries fearful of Iran.“No special move or issue has happened and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s naval units have been and are carrying out their normal and routine tasks in the Strait of Hormuz,” Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session here on Wednesday.

“These units always ask other warships and vessels (to identify themselves in the Strait of Hormuz) and they should identify themselves, and the same thing happened on Sunday as usual,” he added.

Najjar reiterated that the West and the US have scattered such rumors as a part of their plot to make the regional and Persian Gulf littoral states fearful of Iran.

“The project for making others fearful of Iran and portraying Iran as a threat (to other states) has failed,” he said, adding, “Regional countries always view Iran as a friendly country and the presence of the Iranian president at the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) and Saudi Arabia indicates the depth of these (friendly) relations.”