Iran backs off warnings about U.S. ships

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Saturday that it considered the likely return of U.S. warships to the Gulf part of routine activity, backing away from previous warnings to Washington not to re-enter the area.

The statement may be seen as an effort to reduce tensions after Washington said it would respond if Iran made good on a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz -- the vital shipping lane for oil exports from the Gulf.

"U.S. warships and military forces have been in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East region for many years and their decision in relation to the dispatch of a new warship is not a new issue and it should be interpreted as part of their permanent presence," Revolutionary Guard Deputy Commander Hossein Salami told the official IRNA news agency.

The apparently conciliatory comments may be a response to the European Union and Washington's rejection of Iran's declaration it was close to resuming negotiations with world powers.

Crude prices have spiked several times this year on fears diplomatic tensions could escalate to military clashes.

Along with the EU, which is set to agree to an embargo on Iranian oil next week, Washington hopes the sanctions will force Iran to suspend the nuclear activities it believes are aimed at making an atomic bomb, a charge Tehran denies.

There has been no U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf since the USS John C. Stennis left at the end of December.

On Jan. 3, after President Barack Obama signed new sanctions aimed at stopping Iran's oil exports, Tehran told the Stennis not to return -- an order interpreted by some observers in Iran and Washington as a blanket threat to any U.S. carriers.