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was part of a Navy force assigned to protect merchant vessels flying the U.S. flag. Washington responded days later with a one-day assault that destroyed two Iranian oil platforms and sank or crippled six Iranian vessels.
• Next week's maneuvers are unprecedented in scope. France, Japan, Jordan and New Zealand are among the more than 30 countries expected to take part in the exercise, which begins Sunday and lasts through Sept. 27. Some, such as Britain, will be contributing ships and other hardware. Others are sending personnel and observers.
• In addition to the Gulf, anti-mine practice is planned for the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf of Aden, the gateway to the Red Sea that has been a focus of international efforts to fight Somali pirates.
• Practice exercises are vital in ensuring allied navies are able to work in tandem with their American counterparts, Truver said. Each country has its own command structures and routines, and problems arise in times of war if "you don't practice in peacetime," he noted.
• Iran has said its forces will be monitoring the maneuvers.
• "We are very sensitive about security in the highly strategic Persian Gulf and we are watching closely," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said when asked about the exercise. "They should pay attention that violations of security and tranquility in the region can be a very sensitive phenomenon."
• Iran frequently conducts war games of its own, and is expected to launch another round sometime in the fall. The head of Iran's navy, Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, pledged earlier this month to put Iranian warships in international waters off the U.S. coast "in the next few years." Iran already has sent military vessels into the Mediterranean for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
• The comments are a sign of Tehran's growing alarm over a buildup of additional U.S. Navy ships and other reinforcements to the region.
• Over the summer, the Pentagon deployed four more minesweepers to the Gulf along with the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport dock that was recently retrofitted to become what is known as an afloat forward staging base. That effectively means it is a mother ship that can act as a floating stop-off point for helicopters, patrol ships and special forces.
• They join the four Avenger-class minesweepers the U.S. has long stationed in Bahrain, the tiny Gulf island nation that hosts the Mideast-focused 5th Fleet. Britain also stations minesweepers in the Gulf.
• The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis recently deployed several months ahead of schedule as part of a Pentagon plan to ensure that two carrier strike

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