According to the official Iranian state media agency (IRNA) the head of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, has threatened to send military ships off the Atlantic Coast of the United States, representing a marked increase in tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Sayyari reportedly said, “Like the arrogant powers that are present near our marine borders, we will also have a powerful presence close to American marine borders”.
Interestingly, this came in the wake of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization announcing that they will triple the size of an air base near the Iranian border in Afghanistan.
There are many factors that likely influenced the decision to make this statement publicly, so let’s look at a few possibilities.Late last month I published an article about Israel urging Western nations to present Iran with a credible military threat, which in fact the United States is doing right now.
This antagonizing call from Israel likely did little to reassure Iran that Israel and her Western allies are simply trying to keep the peace.
Furthermore, Turkey just recently announced that they would host the NATO radar system which will, with the help of a plethora of anti-missile defense systems, allegedly be used to spot and disable missile threats from outside Europe from nations like Iran and North Korea.
This system has not only irked Iran but also raised considerable tensions with Russia as they have legitimate concerns over how it will actually be utilized.
Russia has requested that the United States and NATO enter a legally binding agreement saying the system will not be used against Russia but they have been met with stern refusal.
Reuters also points out that if diplomacy fails in getting Iran to stop getting nuclear weapons; America and Israel have not taken the prospect of a military strike off the table.
However, Iran says that their nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes and despite plenty of fearmongering from Israel and the US, there is zero evidencethat conflicts with Tehran’s repeated assurances.
According to Reuters, Iran dismissed Israeli and American threats by saying that if such a strike were to occur they will respond by attacking American interests in the Persian Gulf as well as Israel, which has been claiming that Iran is planning to attack them for years.
Reuters also cites unnamed “analysts” who claim that Iran could carry out hit-and-run attacks in the Persian Gulf and by closing off the Strait of Hormuz.
American interests in the Persian Gulf are plentiful and roughly 40% of all traded oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, so if Tehran were able to successfully carry out such an operation US national interests could be severely impacted.
Then again, we must realize there are plentiful American allies in the region and we have plenty of launching points in areas surrounding Iran from which we could easily attack.
The Iranian Navy official, Sayyari, did not give any more insight into how many vessels could be deployed or what type of vessels they would be. He also did not give any details on when this mobilization could occur.
One important thing worth noting is that if Sayyari is serious and this actually occurs, this could easily justify a massive preemptive strike against Iran. This would be not only against Iranian ships but against their domestic military facilities and nuclear facilities as well.
Just think of how the Bush regime justified invading Iraq based on false intelligence of non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction. Can you imagine how swift Washington would be to strike Iran if they actually positioned ships off of one of our coasts?
What do you think? Is Iran just flexing in an attempt to fight back against the constant real or imagined threat from Israel and the United States? Or is Iran actually announcing a plan to mobilize off of the US’s East Coast? I would love to hear what you think via email at Salamsaha@Gmail.Com.
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