Iran Threatens US Navy

USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71

According to a story by Reuters, Iran will take action if the U.S. Navy sends an aircraft carrier which left the area because of Iranian naval exercises back into the Gulf.

"Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasise to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," Salehi told IRNA. "I advise, recommend and warn them (the Americans) over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Salehi as saying.

Iran just completed 10 days of naval exercises in the Gulf and said during the drills that if foreign powers imposed sanctions on its crude exports it could shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world's traded oil is shipped. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, said it would not allow shipping to be disrupted in the strait.

Iran successfully test-fired two long-range missiles during its naval drill, flexing its military muscle in the face of mounting Western pressure over its controversial nuclear program. Iran also said it had no intention of closing the Strait of Hormuz but had carried out "mock" exercises on shutting the strategic waterway.

Tehran denies Western accusations that it is secretly trying to build atomic bombs, saying it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity. The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve the Islamic state's nuclear row with the West. The European Union is considering following the United States in banning imports of Iranian crude oil. U.S. President Barack Obama signed new sanctions against Iran into law on Saturday, stepping up the pressure by adding sanctions on financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank.

Iran's threats against our aircraft carrier are probably nothing more than more saber-rattling in the face of these new sanctions. Even the crazy people in charge of that country must know that attacks on our Navy have historically lead to war. The American people would never tolerate such an attack and the retribution would be severe. So severe, in fact, that it would result in the destruction of the Iranian Navy and Air Force and very likely lead to the fall of the government.

Still, the threat must be taken very seriously. The Iranians may just have enough over confidence in their small fleet of speed boats and their newly developed missile program that they just might do something crazy. In my opinion I think we should not risk sending an aircraft carrier into the gulf. I think we should send a large task force supported by 2 more carrier groups and if the Iranians are too dumb to get the message, let them learn their lesson the hard way -by finding their navy relocated to the bottom of the gulf.

Live Long and Prosper...