Uss John C Stennis

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he will visit a US aircraft carrier transiting the disputed South China Sea on Friday, a move bound to anger China, which has been increasingly asserting its territorial claims.

Just days after Iranian leaders warned the US to keeps its aircraft carriers out of the Persian Gulf, a US Navy ship that had just finished operations in the Gulf rescued an Iranian fishing boat that had been commandeered by suspected Somali pirates.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he will visit a US aircraft carrier transiting the disputed South China Sea on Friday, a move bound to anger China, which has been increasingly asserting its territorial claims.

Just days after Iranian leaders warned the US to keeps its aircraft carriers out of the Persian Gulf, a US Navy ship that had just finished operations in the Gulf rescued an Iranian fishing boat that had been commandeered by suspected Somali pirates.