Iranian naval chief touts new base

TEHRAN, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Iran's new naval base can be used to keep an enemy out of the Persian Gulf, the head of the Iranian navy said Wednesday.

Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, in an interview on state radio, said the base is in a strategic location east of the Strait of Hormuz in the town of Jask, Debkafile reported.

About 40 percent of the global oil supply flows through the strait. Iran has threatened to retaliate by blocking the waterway if the United States bombs its nuclear facilities.

Debkafile said the location has other strategic advantages for Iran. Not only is it opposite the Gulf of Oman, where Israel stations Dolphin submarines, but it allows Iran to provide a counterweight to the U.S. and Russian naval presence off the coast of Somalia and allows it to have a military presence off Sudan.