The US Navy and its Gulf allies will not allow Iran to seal off the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the commander of US naval forces in the Gulf said Wednesday.

The warning by Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, commander of the 5th Fleet, came as he was holding talks with naval commanders of Gulf countries at a conference in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi. The one-day meeting was to focus on the region's maritime and trade routes security and the threat of terrorism.

The 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain, across the Gulf from Iran. Cosgriff said that if Iran chocked off the Strait of Hormuz, it would be "saying to the world that 40 percent of oil is now held hostage by a single country."

"We will not allow Iran to close it," he told reporters.

Cosgriff's comments follow Iranian threats that it could seal off the key passageway in case of a Western attack on Teheran. But Cosgriff said that if Iran moved to …