Iran-US brinkmanship over oil strait worsens
Iran's Revolutionary Guards rejected a warning that the US military would "not tolerate" such a closure, saying they would act decisively "to protect our vital interests."
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday that Iran had exhibited "irrational behavior" by threatening to close the strait.
"One can only guess that the international sanctions are beginning to feel the pinch, and that the ratcheting up of pressure, particularly on their oil sector, is pinching in a way that is causing them to lash out."
The tough language came as two US warships entered a zone where the Iranian navy's ships and aircraft were in the middle of 10 days of war games designed as a show of military might.
But a US navy spokeswoman said later that the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay had transited without incident on Tuesday, in pre-planned, routine operation.
"Our interaction with the regular Iranian Navy continues to be within the standards of maritime practice, well-known, routine and professional," Fifth Fleet spokeswoman Lieutenant Rebecca Rebarich said on Thursday.
The transit area was in waters east of the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point at the entrance to the Gulf through which more than a third of the world's tanker-borne oil passes.
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned this week that "not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz" if the West followed through with planned additional sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.
The navy commander, Admiral Habibollah Sayari, backed that up by saying it would be "really easy" to close the strait.
A US Defence Department spokesman riposted Wednesday that "interference with the transit... of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz will not be tolerated."
But Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, told Fars news agency on Thursday that "our response to threats is threats."
"We have no doubt about our being able to carry out defensive strategies to protect our vital interests -- we will act more decisively than ever," he was quoted as saying.
"The Americans are not qualified to give us permission" to carry out military strategy, he said.
Admiral Sayari said the US aircraft carrier was monitored by Iranian forces as it passed from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman, state television reported.
It broadcast footage of an aircraft carrier being shadowed by an Iranian plane.
An Iranian navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, told the official IRNA news agency the US carrier went "inside the manoeuvre zone" where Iranian ships were conducting their exercises.
He added that the Iranian navy was "prepared, in accordance with international law, to confront offenders who do not respect our security perimeters during the manoeuvres."
US officials had said on Wednesday that the Stennis and its carrier strike group were moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
Pentagon press secretary George Little said this was "a pre-planned, routine transit" to the Arabian Sea to provide air power for the war in Afghanistan.
The United States maintains a navy presence in the Gulf in large part to ensure oil traffic there is unhindered. Its Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain.
Iran, which is already subject to several rounds of sanctions over its nuclear programme, has repeatedly said it could target the Strait of Hormuz if attacked or its economy is strangled.
Such a move could cause havoc on world oil markets, disrupting the fragile global economy, although analysts say the Islamic republic is unlikely to take such drastic steps as it relies on the route for its own oil exports.
Iran's naval manoeuvres included the laying of mines and the use of aerial drones, according to Iranian media. Missiles and torpedoes were to be test-fired in the coming days.
Earlier this month, Iranian officials said a Revolutionary Guards cyber-warfare unit had hacked the controls of a US bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance drone and brought it down safely.
Analysts and oil market traders are watching the developing situation in and around the Strait of Hormuz carefully, fearing that a spark could ignite open confrontation between the long-time foes.
The United States had proposed a military hotline between Tehran and Washington to defuse any "miscalculations" between their navies, but Iran in September rejected that offer.
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@Harry Stone: Pakistan should stay neutral in any conflict and only support itself. Last time we supported USofA, we lost economically and ended up with 40,000 civilians and 4,000 soldiers dead. I think we are done supporting USofA for a long long time.
It's funny to read of an Iranian airplane shadowing a US carrier. To appreciate how funny this is, you have to look at the inventory of the Iranian Air Force -- its frontline fighters are F-14 Tomcats and its main attack aircraft is the F-4 Phantom, both planes that the US gave to the Shah in the early to mid 1970s. USS Stennis must have let the Iranian planes fly just to see how many duct-tapes were holding them together.
@TOM SAWYER: Yes these armies look impressive when they have their military parades. They look like prancing horses. They are very successful in attacking their own civilian population and are a force to be feared. You could also include PAK in the same league as the ME. Here using is lack of success with its attacks on India.
I am not sure if it was a question of not fighting as much as it was a question of capability. Reviewing the history of modern warfare in the ME, nations such as Egypt, Iraq, Syria, etc. do not perform well when confronted with a professional army that is highly trained, well equipped and properly lead.
So that Iraq and Iran fought to a standstill is not surprising.
@Usman:
No one said that PAK should live in isolation. My comment only points out that PAK needs to weight carefully who they chose to support if a conflict should arise.
@Nand:
PAK could send its navy and deploy its air force to support Iran.
@Mambo: Could you please please please please ask the eastblishment to have a defence pact with Iran. I would love to see this situation. Yes I then I will suppert Iran.
@Cautious: No one will ever know why the Iraq military decided not to fight when they were invaded. Iran and Iraq fought to a standstill that lasted some 8 years and we supported Iraq. This is no small feat for Iran. If push comes to shove with Iran I doubt that Iran will confine the conflict to the immediate area.
@Harry Stone: Iran is our neighbor with whom we share a border, a religion, and a history. We cant simply close our eyes and pretend Iran doesn't exist. That would be a stupid approach. Despite US-Iran problems, Pakistan is bound to have economic and people-to-people relations with Iran, as will India and China. Iranian oil accounts for 20% of total oil consumption in India. Likewise, China is a major player in Iranian economy. Your insular attitude is of a people living in splendid isolation, we can't afford that.
Rational people should support Iran USA wants to bully everyone viva Iran
@Ahmer Ali:
Maybe if PAK feels so strongly about their Iranian friends they should enter into a mutual defense treaty. It surely would endear PAK to the Iranians maybe even leading to a discount in gas prices. The downside to this is the Americans would come to understand PAK more than they seem to now.
The USA made it clear to the former Soviet Union that closure of the strait by them would be considered an act of war --- can't imagine that the USA is going to be intimidated by harsh language from Iran. Last time Iran tried to close the strait they got spanked hard by the USA and they got no support from the international community.
The behaviour from the iranian leadership is totally unacceptable. Worst than the communists !! Almost all rational people would not want to associate with this style.!
No doubt the sabre rattling led to a surge in oil prices. In light of the looming presidential elections in the U.S. high energy prices would help lower Obama's popularity in national polls. But the sabre is also a two-edged sword for Iran. China and India would not be amused by the blockiade of the Strait of Hormuz. Besides the GCC and other countries in the region might join forces to retaliate against Iran as well.
The only winner in this conflict is Israel. One of the biggest losers will be Pakistan - your energy and food prices will skyrocket and when the USA decides to degrade the Iranian military it may decide to destroy Iran's pipeline to your border as well. Those who think the Iranian's can defeat the USA military apparently don't know anything about the last military confrontation and apparently don't recall that Iran had a tough time fighting Iraq to a standstill - the same Iraqi military the USA defeated with almost no casualties.
The Strait of Hormuz is not in international waters; it is in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. By international laws Iran has the right to stop and search any ship and to refuse giving permission to shipments to / from any hostile country. Iran can close the waterway simply by stopping all ships to check their cargos! The queue of ships waiting to be checked will reach India in a day, strait will be literary closed without firing a bullet!
hasnt pretty much all the fighting between the two been over oil (in a masked sense).... i dont believe it for a minute that iraq and afghanistan is about the terrorism or to help the people of those countries, there is a hidden agenda.
similar to dune, whoever controls the spice controls the planet......
in reality...
whoever controls the oil, controls the planet.
as frank said, im one of the 99 percent that would rather just sit back and have a beer.
not be controlled by a load of dead dinosaurs that now run my car :-/
Only d Game in live showdown can ascertain who is who,though it will not b easy for both sides!
Once again US' leaders are going to face the next most ever worst defeat against Iran because Iran has mush more power and war capability than Afghanistan.Whereas US' leaders very well know that they have badly defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan and have wasted billions of $$$$$$,have lost precious and expensive military equipments and vehicles and also have lost US' troops lives only in the useless and fruitless war but didn't get the lesson till now and once again now they are going to commit the biggest every committed mistake and in the war against Iran USA shall have to face the most dangerous and hazardous music than Afghanistan.
well one can only hope Iran will do what it has threaten..
Of course this will hamper the new IP pipeline but that is minor we already know it is years and years in coming