MANAMA - The United States said yesterday it was not heading towards a clash with Iran unless the Islamic republic started it and warned Tehran against any attempt to halt shipping in the Persian Gulf.
The US Defence Secretary, Mr William Cohen, said during a tour of Washington's Gulf Arab allies that Iran this month successfully tested a new Chinese air-launched anti-ship cruise missile. He told a news conference that Iran "continues to support terrorism in addition to developing weapons of mass destruction, improving missiles that can strike neighbouring nations and boosting the facility to close the Strait of Hormuz".
"The United States will not allow this to happen," he said in Bahrain, headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet which keeps more than two dozen warships in the Gulf.