Iran warns the US carrier against returning to the Persian gulf

[Martinus]

Iran warns US carrier against Gulf return
Updated January 03, 2012 19:58:14

Iran's army chief says the Islamic republic will take action if the US aircraft carrier that recently left the Persian Gulf returned.

The carrier USS John C Stennis, one of the US navy's biggest vessels, left the area because of 10 days of Iranian naval exercises in which they fired a number a new missiles.

"We advise and insist that this warship not return to its former base in the Persian Gulf," Brigadier General Ataollah Salehi told reporters, according to the armed forces website.

"We don't have the intention of repeating our warning, and we warn only once," he was quoted as saying.

The US vessel last week passed through the Strait heading east across the Gulf of Oman and through a zone where the Iranian navy was holding its manoeuvres.

The US Defence Department said the passage was "routine."

The United States keeps at least one aircraft carrier in or near the Gulf at all times, on rotations of weeks or months. It maintains the base of its Fifth Fleet in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Tensions have risen in recent days after Iran, which insists its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes, test-fired a series of missiles near the key Gulf oil supply route of the Strait of Hormuz.

The display of military muscle was designed to show Iran's ability to close the strait, through which 20 per cent of the world's oil flows, if it chooses.

Iranian political and military officials insist they could take that drastic step if the West imposes more sanctions on top of others that have already taken their toll on Iran's oil-dependent economy.

The US and its allies have imposed their sanctions to punish Iran for maintaining a nuclear program they believe masks military objectives.

French foreign minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday that Iran was continuing to develop nuclear weapons and called for stronger sanctions against Tehran.

"Iran is pursuing the development of its nuclear arms, I have no doubt about it," he told French television I-Tele.

"The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency is quite explicit on this point.

"This is why France, without closing the path of negotiation and dialogue with Iran, wants stricter sanctions."

He said French president Nicolas Sarkozy had proposed a freezing of assets of Iran's central bank and an embargo on exports of Iranian oil, a move also being considered by the European Union.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-03/iran-tells-departed-us-carrier-not-to-return/3757200

Will there be a war? 

[The Brain]

"And stay out!"

I like how they talk like big strong man.

[Razgovory]

I thought we already had a Tim thread on this.

[Martinus]

We do? Oh sorry then, I didn't see it.

[11B4V]

Let's get it on!!

[jimmy olsen]

  They talk pretty big, that carrier should turn right around and see whether they want to back up what they say.

[Razgovory]

Anyway, Marty, to answer your original question: I think the US and Iran are already on a collision course that will end in military action.  I don't know if anyone will classify it as a war, it might just be airstrikes.  Relations have gone downhill since Obama has been elected (which is impressive considering the US doesn't even have official relations with Iran).  The popular uprising in Iran was brutally put down and I think that dashed any hopes of fruitful negotiations.  I don't know what form a conflict with Iran will take.  The US can probably hit Iranian targets with impunity, I don't know how Iran will respond.  I suspect they have some tricks up their sleeves.  The situation in Pakistan is also threatening to boil over, and God knows what'll happen then.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Even more strutting 

The regime is weak and probably wants to have the US as a scapegoat for it's own failings, hard to know what the best action is in these circumstances 

[Tamas]

Even more strutting 

The regime is weak and probably wants to have the US as a scapegoat for it's own failings, hard to know what the best action is in these circumstances 

I am afraid the US should return to it's time-tested method of "let them strike first". It will be tragic to the servicemen lost in it, but a clear Iranian act of agression should be provoked.

[The Brain]

Even more strutting 

The regime is weak and probably wants to have the US as a scapegoat for it's own failings, hard to know what the best action is in these circumstances 

I am afraid the US should return to it's time-tested method of "let them strike first". It will be tragic to the servicemen lost in it, but a clear Iranian act of agression should be provoked.

If it works as well as the Saudi one we're lucky that Iraq is available for invasion again.

[Martinus]

Even more strutting 

The regime is weak and probably wants to have the US as a scapegoat for it's own failings, hard to know what the best action is in these circumstances 

I am afraid the US should return to it's time-tested method of "let them strike first". It will be tragic to the servicemen lost in it, but a clear Iranian act of agression should be provoked.

If it works as well as the Saudi one we're lucky that Iraq is available for invasion again.

Hey, for all we know, Iraq could be hiding the Iranian WMDs that the UN inspectors couldn't find. 

[CountDeMoney]

I've never liked the concept of carriers operating inside the Gulf.  Up until 1991, to support airstrikes in Gulf War I (also known as The Great Gulf War) it was always considered operationally verboten.  That is one of the reasons why the battleships were brought back into service under Reagan:  because the Gulf is a better arena for a surface action group than a carrier battle group.

[besuchov]

Considering how narrow the straight is, if Iran tried isnt it rather likely that they would sink or seriously damage a transiting carrier? If so, its a pretty big bet to call when you send the carrier in there again. On the other hand you cant really not send to carrier in since it would signal that Iran can dictate what passes through the strait...

[jimmy olsen]

Considering how narrow the straight is, if Iran tried isnt it rather likely that they would sink or seriously damage a transiting carrier? If so, its a pretty big bet to call when you send the carrier in there again. On the other hand you cant really not send to carrier in since it would signal that Iran can dictate what passes through the strait...

In a wargame as Iran a US general managed to sink a carrier and some escorts using kamikaze speed boats and a fuckton of missiles. However the Navy said he broke the rules of the game and it didn't count. 

[CountDeMoney]

Considering how narrow the straight is, if Iran tried isnt it rather likely that they would sink or seriously damage a transiting carrier? If so, its a pretty big bet to call when you send the carrier in there again. On the other hand you cant really not send to carrier in since it would signal that Iran can dictate what passes through the strait...

I'm not sure the Iranians have enough shitty Silkworm platforms in the area to properly coordinate and effectively saturate a carrier battle group escorted by two Aegis cruisers.  But the political damage of even one getting through to ding a picket ship, let alone an aircraft carrier, would be horrendous.