Iran said on Monday that it was ready to respond to any hostile U.S. action, but it did not consider the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf last week as a significant threat.

The USS John C. Stennis entered the Gulf on Friday, ending a long absence of U.S. aircraft carriers in the region. “The presence of this warship is insignificant to us,” Iran’s Navy commander Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

Mr. Sayyari said the U.S. Navy was allowed to sail in international waters near Iran, just as the Iranian Navy could sail in the Atlantic Ocean near U.S. waters. He said, however, that Iran was on alert for threats. “They do not have the courage or ability to take any measures against us. We have enough capabilities to stand against their actions and we have fully rehearsed for that.”