Iran rejects U.S. warning on Hormuz

[Ghost]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57349655/iran-rejects-u.s-warning-on-hormuz/

(CBS/AP)  TEHRAN, Iran - Iran continued to suggest it may block the Strait of Hormuz in response to greater international pressure over its nuclear program, rejecting a U.S. warning that any attempt to choke off the key oil supply route would not be tolerated.
"The U.S. is not in a position" to affect Iran's decisions, Gen. Hossein Salami, the acting commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard told the semi-official Fars news agency Thursday. "Iran does not ask permission to implement its own defensive strategies."

Iran had previously threatened the close the strait if Washington imposes sanctions targeting Iran's crude exports. On Wednesday, Lt. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet, said the Navy was "always ready to counter malevolent actions to ensure freedom of navigation."

Meanwhile, official IRNA news agency reported an Iranian surveillance plane has recorded video and photographed a U.S. aircraft carrier during Iran's ongoing navy drill near a strategic waterway in the Persian Gulf.

The report did not provide details and it was unclear what information the Iranian military could gleam from such footage. But the announcement is an indication Iran is seeking to cast its navy as having a powerful role in the region's waters.

IRNA quoted Iran's navy chief, Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, as saying the action shows that Iran has "control over the moves by foreign forces" in the area where Tehran is holding a 10-day military exercise.

"An Iranian vessel and surveillance plane have tracked, filmed and photographed a U.S. aircraft carrier as it was entering the Gulf of Oman from the Persian Gulf," Sayyari said.

He added that the "foreign fleet will be warned by Iranian forces if it enters the area of the drill."

State TV showed what appeared to be the reported video, but it was not possible to make out the details of the carrier because the footage was filmed from far away.

The Iranian exercise is taking place in international waters near the Strait of Hormuz ? the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil supply.

Beyond it lie vast bodies of water, including the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is also active in the area, as are warships of several other countries that patrol for pirates there.

Lt. Rebarich said the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay headed out from the Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, after a visit to Dubai's Jebel Ali port.

She described the passage through the strait as "a pre-planned, routine transit" for the carrier, which is providing air support from the north Arabian Sea to troops in Afghanistan.

Rebarich did not directly address Iranian claims of possessing the reported footage but said the 5th Fleet's "interaction with the regular Iranian Navy continues to be within the standards of maritime practice, well known, routine and professional."

[JohnyMac]

Stay tuned ladies and gentleman...

[thatGuy]

If Iran wants to fuck around I am sure that the 25,000 men and women of the 5th Fleet would love to have a say in it.

Sure this might be the mole hill that turns into World War III mountain but honestly I don't think the Iranians have the gaul to "stand up and be counted."

[sledge]

Iran is getting antsy because of moves th U.S. is pushing.  The first is a set of stiffer sanctions that would forbid Europe and the U.S. from using or buying Iranian oil.  The second is the Obama administration has said it will enact rules next week which forbid U.S. financial institutions from dealing with any bank or financial institution anywhere in the world that has any dealing with the Iranian central bank.

These two moves would reduce the Iranian regime's income by a reported 80%.  To counter these threatened moves the Iranians are threatening to close down the Straits of Hormuz stopping the flow of oil to the rest of the world.

From what I understand the Iranians don't have to sow mines all across the strait.  They just have to place or free float a few mines and be lucky enough to have a tanker hit one.  That would cause the tanker ship operators and crews to question the risk involved in trying to navigate the strait.       

[JohnyMac]

We are staying at a place that has RT. My wife is addicted to the channel and has it on when we are in all of the time.

Well the Iranian closing Hormuz is all over RT. Of course the channel is anti-US/ EU/ Barry and it is interesting to hear their side of the story. RT thinks that Iran will not back down to the US dogs. 

[sledge]

We are staying at a place that has RT. My wife is addicted to the channel and has it on when we are in all of the time.

Well the Iranian closing Hormuz is all over RT. Of course the channel is anti-US/ EU/ Barry and it is interesting to hear their side of the story. RT thinks that Iran will not back down to the US dogs. 

I'd say RT is right.  You have to look at Iran's ultimate motivation.  The regime in power made that perfectly clear in the film they produced this year associating their leaders as those who will be responsible for the return of the 12th Imam.  They are fanatics driven by that purpose.

The upcoming U.S. moves are designed to encourage the Iranian populas to rise up and remove the regime.  80% of Iranians under 40 hate the regime. 

I suspect Barry is being pushed into these actions by the Israelis.  The statements by Panetta, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, and the new shift in U.S. policy came after the meeting President Barack Obama had with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Washington Dec. 16.

I suspect the Israelis told Obama time was up.  Either take immediate steps to bring the Iranian regime to it's knees or we're going to attack them.  Pick one.

I don't think it will work.  The Iranian regime is on a mission to return the 12 Imam and don't care what suffering their people have to go through.  Whether they get the bomb or not war is coming unless the Iranian people rise up against the regime.  We'll see if Russia and China have the balls to stand behind their assurances to defend Iran.  Some say they will, some say they won't.  Personally, I'm with the former.

     

[JohnyMac]

I think that Barry is actually caught between a rock and a hard place for the reasons you out lined Sledge. Barry stepping up to the plate will give him points for the up and coming election too. 

I attached an interactive graph a couple of weeks ago that showed each Presidents approval rating's since Truman. In every case, if there was a flare up of war or the hint of war the Presidents rating's went up 5-10 points. In the case of actual serious conflict or war a Presidential approval rating went up as high as 90%. Just look at W's rating's post 911. I think they were in the high eighties low nineties. His Dad's rating was in the eighties during Desert Storm.

With all of that said, I do not think China will attack us. I think they will move to solidify their power in Asia. As mentioned before, like taking over Taiwan. With that said, I think if the ? shits the bed it will lead to similar failures at home for the US and CN $. I am worried about GB's ? too. Heck RBS (AKA Citizen's Bank) is in hock to the Fed for about 1/2 Billion $$$ and I think the British government owns 80 or so percent of that bank. I wonder what other GB banks are in hock to the Fed also- Barclay's? HSBC? Lloyd's?

Not to sound overly dramatic, however, I do think we are teetering on war. Be it guns & bombs, economic colapse, internet attacks or a combination of the above. Something is brewing and because of the Holidays we are not receiving much information via the press about what is going on. Get ready to be inundated starting week one of January and escalating throughout the month.

On the other had- Those Pats are looking good    If the defense can hold off more injuries I think you will see them and Green Bay in the Super Bowel. 

[Skippy00004]

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/War-Imminent-in-Straits-of-Hormuz-$200-a-Barrel-Oil.html

The pieces and policies for potential conflict in the Persian Gulf are seemingly drawing inexorably together.
 
Since 24 December the Iranian Navy has been holding its ten-day Velayat 90 naval exercises, covering an area in the Arabian Sea stretching from east of the Strait of Hormuz entrance to the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden. The day the maneuvers opened Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told a press conference that the exercises were intended to show "Iran's military prowess and defense capabilities in international waters, convey a message of peace and friendship to regional countries, and test the newest military equipment." The exercise is Iran's first naval training drill since May 2010, when the country held its Velayat 89 naval maneuvers in the same area. Velayat 90 is the largest naval exercise the country has ever held.
 
The participating Iranian forces have been divided into two groups, blue and orange, with the blue group representing Iranian forces and orange the enemy. Velayat 90 is involving the full panoply of Iranian naval force, with destroyers, missile boats, logistical support ships, hovercraft, aircraft, drones and advanced coastal missiles and torpedoes all being deployed. Tactics include mine-laying exercises and preparations for chemical attack. Iranian naval commandos, marines and divers are also participating.
 
The exercises have put Iranian warships in close proximity to vessels of the United States Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, which patrols some of the same waters, including the Strait of Hormuz, a 21 mile-wide waterway at its narrowest point. Roughly 40 percent of the world's oil tanker shipments transit the strait daily, carrying 15.5 million barrels of Saudi, Iraqi, Iranian, Kuwaiti, Bahraini, Qatari and United Arab Emirates crude oil, leading the United States Energy Information Administration to label the Strait of Hormuz "the world's most important oil chokepoint."
 
In light of Iran?s recent capture of an advanced CIA RQ-170 Sentinel drone earlier this month, Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Seyed Mahmoud Moussavi noted that the Iranian Velayat 90 forces also conducted electronic warfare tests, using modern Iranian-made electronic jamming equipment to disrupt enemy radar and contact systems. Further tweaking Uncle Sam?s nose, Moussavi added that Iranian Navy drones involved in Velayat 90 conducted successful patrolling and surveillance operations.
 
Thousands of miles to the west, adding oil to the fire, President Obama is preparing to sign legislation that, if fully enforced, could impose harsh penalties on all customers for Iranian oil, with the explicit aim of severely impeding Iran?s ability to sell it.
 
How serious are the Iranians about the proposed sanctions and possible attack over its civilian nuclear program and what can they deploy if push comes to shove? According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies? The Military Balance 2011, Iran has 23 submarines, 100+ ?coastal and combat? patrol craft, 5 mine warfare and anti-mine craft, 13 amphibious landing vessels and 26 ?logistics and support? ships. Add to that the fact that Iran has emphasized that it has developed indigenous ?asymmetrical warfare? naval doctrines, and it is anything but clear what form Iran?s naval response to sanctions or attack could take. The only certainty is that it is unlikely to resemble anything taught at the U.S. Naval Academy.
 
The proposed Obama administration energy sanctions heighten the risk of confrontation and carry the possibility of immense economic disruption from soaring oil prices, given the unpredictability of the Iranian response. Addressing the possibility of tightened oil sanctions Iran?s first vice president Mohammad-Reza Rahimi on 27 December said, ?If they impose sanctions on Iran?s oil exports, then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz.?
 
Iran has earlier warned that if either the U.S. or Israel attack, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the Strait of Hormuz. On 28 December Iranian Navy commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari observed, "Closing the Strait of Hormuz for the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very easy. It is a capability that has been built from the outset into our naval forces' abilities."
 
But adding an apparent olive branch Sayyari added, "But today we are not in the Hormuz Strait. We are in the Sea of Oman and we do not need to close the Hormuz Strait. Today we are just dealing with the Sea of Oman. Therefore, we can control it from right here and this is one of our prime abilities for such vital straits and our abilities are far, far more than they think."
 
There are dim lights at the end of the seemingly darker and darker tunnel. The proposed sanctions legislation allows Obama to waive sanctions if they cause the price of oil to rise or threaten national security.
 
Furthermore, there is the wild card of Iran?s oil customers, the most prominent of which is China, which would hardly be inclined to go along with increased sanctions.
 
But one thing should be clear in Washington ? however odious the U.S. government might find Iran?s mullahcracy, it is most unlikely to cave in to either economic or military intimidation that would threaten the nation?s existence, and if backed up against the wall with no way out, would just as likely go for broke and use every weapon at its disposal to defend itself. Given their evident cyber abilities in hacking the RQ-170 Sentinel drone and their announcement of an indigenous naval doctrine, a ?cakewalk? victory with ?mission accomplished? declared within a few short weeks seems anything but assured, particularly as it would extend the military arc of crisis from Iraq through Iran to Afghanistan, a potential shambolic military quagmire beyond Washington?s, NATO?s and Tel Aviv?s resources to quell.
 
It is worth remembering that chess was played in Sassanid Iran 1,400 years ago, where it was known as ?chatrang.? What is occurring now off the Persian Gulf is a diplomatic and military game of chess, with global implications.
 
Washington?s concept of squeezing a country?s government by interfering with its energy policies has a dolorous history seven decades old.
 
When Japan invaded Vichy French-ruled southern Indo-China in July 1941 the U.S. demanded Japan withdraw. In addition, on 1 August the U.S., Japan?s biggest oil supplier at the time, imposed an oil embargo on the country.
 
Pearl Harbor occurred less than four months later.

[Kentactic]

so bassically obama is starting a war by passing some restrictions to fuck over Irans oil sales...why?... why are we trying to fuck over Iran ?

[Kentactic]

The upcoming U.S. moves are designed to encourage the Iranian populas to rise up and remove the regime.  80% of Iranians under 40 hate the regime.

thats what i wanted to know thanks sledge!

[RS762]

so bassically obama is starting a war by passing some restrictions to fuck over Irans oil sales...why?... why are we trying to fuck over Iran ?

That would be the big question now wouldn't it?