U.S. carrier enters Strait of Hormuz

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U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln on Tuesday sailed through the Strait of Hormuz -- near the coast of Iran -- for the second time in recent weeks.

A commander on board said it was a routine voyage and nothing to do with tensions with Iran.

Iranian officials have threatened to close the channel through which 20 percent of global oil exports pass.

The European Union and U.S. have campaigned for a ban on Iranian oil imports.

Iran, which denies international suspicions that it is trying to design atomic bombs behind the facade of a declared civilian atomic energy programme, has scoffed at efforts to bar its oil exports as Asia lines up to buy what Europe rejects.

Washington applied its own sanctions to Iran's oil trade and central bank on Dec. 31.