WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Obama administration is taking a range of steps short of war to force Iran to take more seriously negotiations over its disputed nuclear program, in hopes of forestalling an Israeli attack, a U.S. newspaper reported Monday.
These steps include planned naval exercises and new anti- missile systems in the Persian Gulf, and a more forceful clamping down on Iranian oil revenue, the New York Times reported in a front-page story.
President Barack Obama is also considering making warnings about what might bring about American military action against Tehran, as well as covert activities that have been previously considered and rejected, it said.
The U.S. and over 25 other countries will hold the largest scale mine-sweeping exercise on Sept. 16-27 in the Persian Gulf, in a show of unity and a defensive step to prevent Iran from attempting to block oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. is also racing to complete a new radar system in Qatar in the coming months that would combine with radars already in place in Israel and Turkey to form a broad arc of anti-missile coverage, the report said.
Washington is considering launching further cyber operation like the cyber attack code-named "Olympic Games" that infected Iran's nuclear centrifuges, in a bid to slow down the Iranian nuclear program.
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