President George W. Bush visited the US Navy?s Fifth Fleet yesterday amid new tensions with Iran over an incident in which the United States says its ships were harassed in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington says Iranian boats threatened its warships on January 6th along the vital route for crude oil shipments from the world?s biggest producing region.

Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, commander of the Fifth Fleet, made it clear to Bush his forces took the incident ?deadly seriously,? White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters. ?All of the people in the military remember what?s happened in the past such as the USS Cole,? she said, referring to the deadly attack on the warship in Yemen in 2000.

During a stop in Israel at the start of Bush?s Middle East trip last week, he warned Iran of ?serious consequences? if it attacked US ships, and said all options were on the table.

Tehran has dismissed the incident as routine and accused the United States of exaggerating it for propaganda purposes. ?We exercised restraint and we very calmly announced that this was a routine procedure but they tried to ... raise this issue at the same time when Mr. Bush was travelling to the region to paint Iran in a negative light,? Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters.

Bush went to the sprawling naval complex in Bahrain, a Gulf island kingdom home to the Fifth Fleet, before going on to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, where he will give a speech on the advancement of democracy. During the visit to Bahrain, Bush entered a US naval mess hall to loud applause and shouted ?good morning? to sailors, marines and soldiers assembled for breakfast. Joining the chow line, Bush picked up some pancakes, syrup and bacon, then sat down to breakfast with the sailors.

Push to isolate Iran

In Abu Dhabi, Bush was greeted in light drizzle by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan and Vice President and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, before heading to the palace for talks and lunch. The UAE is the third stop on Bush?s tour of US-allied Arab states that will also take him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Bush hopes to boost US efforts to isolate Iran over its nuclear ambitions, with Bush saying late last year that a nuclear-armed Iran could mean ?World War Three.?

The Bush administration has kept up a campaign of harsh rhetoric despite a US intelligence report in December that concluded Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, contradicting the president?s assertion that Tehran was actively pursuing the development of a bomb.

Bush has insisted that Iran remains a danger. Tehran says it wants nuclear technology for strictly civilian purposes. But the National Intelligence Estimate has left Washington?s Arab allies worried and confused. They share US concerns about Tehran?s growing regional influence but want efforts at containment to be done without resorting to military means.

Iran?s Hosseini said US efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic had failed as Gulf Arabs had been actively engaging it. ?What we have witnessed was a very good and clever and alert response of countries in the region towards this, let?s say, bad policy of the United States and this has not been given any credit to these policies,? he said at a weekly news conference. ?Along with the use of such policies by the Americans we witness a surge in convergence between countries of the region and the Islamic Republic of Iran.?

Kuwait has repeatedly said it will not allow the US to use its territory for any strike against Iran. Saudi Arabia said ahead of Bush?s arrival in the Gulf that it would listen to the president but that it had direct contacts with its neighbor and could directly talk through any problems.

Bush will visit the UAE?s trade and tourism hub Dubai before heading for Saudi Arabia and Egypt as he tries to rally Arab support for his Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking efforts.

NO PRESSURE ON SAUDIS ABOUT OIL

President George W. Bush is unlikely to complain about oil prices near $100 per barrel when he meets with Saudi Arabia?s king this week, even though prices have nearly doubled since the last time the two met in 2005. When he arrives in Riyadh today, Bush would be well within his bounds to quiz the Saudis on how the de facto leaders of the OPEC cartel can tame oil prices that are an added blow to a US economy tilting toward recession.

Saudi Arabia, the world?s biggest oil exporter, produces about 9 million barrels per day and is in the midst of a major capacity boost aimed at relieving drum-tight global supply. "Where are those 12.5 million barrels per day that their oil minister has been promising forever?" said Thomas Lippman, adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute.

The day the former Texas oil man walked arm-in-arm with King Abdullah, then the Crown Prince, at Bush?s Texas ranch in April 2005, oil cost around $54 a barrel, a level that Saudi officials admitted was "clearly too high." With prices now near $93 a barrel, Bush is likely to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process when the world?s biggest oil consumer and its biggest exporter meet.The oil issue will likely be left to US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman when he visits Saudi Arabia later this month.