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U.S. freedom of navigation operations in 2013 targeted China, Iran
Source: Reuters
U.S. freedom of navigation operations in 2013 targeted China, Iran
BY DAVID ALEXANDER
WASHINGTON Thu Mar 6, 2014 12:09am EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. military carried out freedom of navigation operations challenging the maritime claims of China, Iran and 10 other countries last year, asserting its transit rights in defiance of efforts to restrict passage, a Pentagon report said on Thursday.
The Defense Department's annual Freedom of Navigation Report to Congress for the 2013 fiscal year showed the U.S. military targeted not only countries such as Iran, with whom it has no formal relations, but treaty allies such as the Philippines, too.
The U.S. military conducted multiple operations targeting China over what Washington believes are "excessive" claims about its maritime boundaries and its effort to force foreign warships to obtain permission before peacefully transiting its territorial seas.
U.S. operations challenging Iran were aimed at rejecting Tehran's effort to restrict the Strait of Hormuz to ships from nations that have signed the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, an accord the United States has not formally adopted.
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BY DAVID ALEXANDER
WASHINGTON Thu Mar 6, 2014 12:09am EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. military carried out freedom of navigation operations challenging the maritime claims of China, Iran and 10 other countries last year, asserting its transit rights in defiance of efforts to restrict passage, a Pentagon report said on Thursday.
The Defense Department's annual Freedom of Navigation Report to Congress for the 2013 fiscal year showed the U.S. military targeted not only countries such as Iran, with whom it has no formal relations, but treaty allies such as the Philippines, too.
The U.S. military conducted multiple operations targeting China over what Washington believes are "excessive" claims about its maritime boundaries and its effort to force foreign warships to obtain permission before peacefully transiting its territorial seas.
U.S. operations challenging Iran were aimed at rejecting Tehran's effort to restrict the Strait of Hormuz to ships from nations that have signed the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, an accord the United States has not formally adopted.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/06/us-usa-defense-navy-idUSBREA2508920140306