LONDON - A Royal Navy aircraft carrier is to be sent to the Gulf in early 2008, the defence ministry in London said Friday but added that its deployment was not linked to possible military action against Iran. A ministry spokesman told AFP that HMS Illustrious will head for the Gulf accompanied by the Type 42 destroyer HMS Edinburgh and the Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster. Also involved in Operation Orion 08 will be two minesweepers and three support vessels from the Royal Fleet Auxilliary.
“There is going to be a deployment east of Suez,” the spokesman told AFP by telephone. “It’s routine. It was planned one or two years ago. It’s absolutely not linked with Iran.”
The ships will sail in the Gulf, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea for about six months, with the operation designed to demonstrate BritainÂ’s commitment to maritime security and ability to work with other world navies, he added.
But the Daily Telegraph newspaper said the deployment of British ships in such sensitive waters “may coincide with a crucial period in the West’s confrontation with Iran” over its disputed nuclear programme. “Observers believe that the spring is the last possible moment for President George W. Bush to order military strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme,” it said in a report from Manama, Bahrain. |