Iranian navy starts war games in the Gulf: TV

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's navy started more than a week of war games in the Gulf on Thursday using tactical submarines and small vessels carrying missile launchers, state television reported.

The exercises are the latest in a series of maneuvers staged by Iran's military in the Gulf, where the United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier, a move widely seen as a warning to Tehran over its nuclear ambitions.

State television said the war games staged by Iran's regular naval forces "showed their defensive power for protecting the Persian Gulf".

It said the maneuvers would last until March 30.

"The aim of these war games is to prepare to confront any kind of threat (and to) increase combat capabilities ... ," Naval Commander Sajjad Kouchaki told state radio.

He said the maneuvers were taking place along all of Iran's Gulf coast, from its north to Sea of Oman.

Military experts have viewed such exercises as a show of force in the strategic waterway through which 40 percent of the world's traded oil is shipped and say they are aimed to deter any possible U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic.

Washington, which accuses Tehran of seeking to build atomic bombs, has said it wants a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row but has not ruled out the use of force if that fails.

Iran, which insists its atomic plans are peaceful, has warned that it would target U.S. interests in the region if it came under attack.