DUBAI — A US navy ship that had been slated for decommissioning has been sent instead to the Gulf to help mine-clearing operations, the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain said, the latest move in a gradual US build-up as tensions with Iran smoulder. A fleet spokesman in Manama said the USS Ponce, described as a “afloat forward staging base" (AFSB), had arrived on Thursday after undergoing refitting for its new mission. “Ponce's primary mission is to support mine countermeasures operations and other missions, such as the ability to provide repair service to other deployed units," the spokesman said in a statement. “Additionally, Ponce also has the capability to embark and launch small riverine craft." Four US minesweepers arrived in the Gulf last month to bolster the Fifth Fleet and ensure the safety of shipping routes in a waterway through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports flow. They arrived amid a flaring war of nerves between the United States and Iran over Tehran's disputed nuclear energy program and Iranian threats to block the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for a new European Union ban on its oil exports. The chairman of Iran's Joint Chiefs of Staff has said Tehran will block the strategic strait if its interests were seriously threatened. “We do have a plan to close the Strait of Hormuz," the Press TV quoted Gen. Hasan Firouzabadi as saying Saturday. But Iran “acts reasonably and would not approve interruption of a waterway ... unless our interests are seriously threatened," he added. — Reuters
