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  • EGYPT: USS Enterprise sails through Suez Canal en route to the Gulf for maritime security operations

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EGYPT: USS Enterprise sails through Suez Canal en route to the Gulf for maritime security operations

U.S aircraft carrier USS Enterprise sails through Suez Canal en route to the Gulf for maritime security operations and to provide air support to U.S troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. The American aircraft carrier USS Enterprise sailed through the Suez canal on Wednesday (August 1) on its way to the Gulf. It was accompanied by destroyers and a submarine. The U.S. navy said it would now travel through the Red Sea before proceeding towards the wider Gulf waters. The United States has been flexing its muscles in a standoff with Iran over Tehran's nuclear program that has stoked regional tensions. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have also risen after the announcement of a $20 billion arms deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia last month, which Iran perceived as intended to threaten its interests in the region. While Wednesday's carrier movement will be seen as part of buildup and perhaps directed at Iran, a U.S. spokesman said the USS Enterprise was now the only aircraft carrier operating in the Gulf and wider Gulf region. The USS Stennis and the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike groups that were previously deployed in the Gulf were now operating in the Pacific, the spokesman said. The navy said in a statement the Enterprise would conduct maritime security operations and provide air support to ground forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Last month the Pentagon said there had been no decision to increase naval power in the region and said the deployment of the USS Enterprise was a routine measure to replace one of the two carriers then in the Gulf. A Pentagon official said then there was a possibility the navy could go down to one carrier in the region. The United States sent a second carrier to the Gulf at the start of the year. U.S. officials said the move was designed to reassure U.S. allies concerned about Iran's increasing influence in the region.

ITN Source | August 2, 2007Watch more videos from ITN Source

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