U.S. will respond if Iran closes Strait of Hormuz:

 

The United States will respond if Iran tries to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday, saying his country will still have the strongest army in the world despite a recent decision to slash military spending.

“We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz,” Panetta told CBS television. “That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.”

Panetta was seconded by General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said Iran has the means to close the waterway, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil passes.

“But we would take action and reopen the Straits,” the general said on the same show, “Face the Nation.”

Read more :http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/08/187161.html