MOSCOW.  June  21 (Interfax) - Russia will offer a response "at the
strategic  level"  if  the  United  States  goes ahead with its plans to
deploy elements of its missile defense system in Europe, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov threatened in Moscow on Thursday.
     "I  do  not think that it is accidental that a planned anti-missile
base in  Europe  smoothly  fits  into  the  structure of the global U.S.
missile  defense system deployed, whether accidentally or not, along the
perimeter  of  the  Russian  borders.  Of course, we should take it into
consideration," he said.
     "There  is  no doubt a response to this strategic challenge will be
given at the strategic level as well," the minister said.
     "Russia  would  prefer  joint work, which was proposed by President
Vladimir   Putin   at  a  meeting  with  President  George  W.  Bush  in
Heiligendamm," he said.
     "A  collective project that would involve all interested countries,
primarily  European  nations,  and  use  the  Gabala  radar  station  in
Azerbaijan  with the consent of its government would make the deployment
of elements  of  the  U.S.  missile  defense  system [in Eastern Europe]
unnecessary.  This  project  is  quite controversial and could upset the
strategic stability," Lavrov said.
     Asked what ...   more »

June 21
The USS Enterprise CVN 65-Big E Strike Group, the US Navy’s largest air carrier, will join the USS Stennis and the USS Nimitz carriers, building up the largest sea, air, marine concentration the United States has ever deployed opposite Iran.
This goes towards making good on the assurances of four carriers US Vice President Dick Cheney offered the Gulf and Middle East nations during his May tour of the region.
Washington is considering deploying the fourth US carrier for the region in the Red Sea opposite Saudi Arabian western coast to secure the three US carriers in the Gulf from the rear as well as the Gulf of Aqaba and Suez Canal.
Iran Tuesday refused to rule out using oil supplies as a weapon in the standoff over its nuclear programme, saying Washington had never excluded attacking the Islamic republic. "When the Americans say that using the military option against Iran regarding its nuclear issue is not off the table then Iran can say that it will not put aside the instrument of oil," Iran"s representative to OPEC, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, said in an interview with the Shargh newspaper.
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