Tensions between US and Iran escalated recently when Iran threatened to block a vital sea route mainly used for oil transit. Iran’s navy chief Admiral Habibollah Sayari recently warned that shutting the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic would be “easier than drinking a glass of water”.

Sayari was speaking the day after Vice president Mohammad Reza Rahimi threatened to close the strait if the West imposed more sanctions on Iran. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow corridor through which one-third of the worlds’ seaborne oil exports transits; Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway.

It is an important narrow bend of water between Iran and Oman. The strait is 21 miles across and just about 2 miles wide of navigable channels. The strait is a choke point linking the Gulf’s Oil-exporting states of Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the Indian Ocean.

The Strait is a key corridor for oil shipments, along with other bulk oil, exported through this route that travel to China, Western Europe and United States. All of this started when Vice president Rahimi warned that if the west broadens sanctions against Iran amid nuclear deadlock, “then not a drop of oil [would] pass through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Later on, the US Navy’s Fifth fleet shot back with a warning that any attempt to disrupt tariff trade in the Strait won’t be accepted.  “We’re in the game of threats. If you’re going to cut them out of the oil market, they have no interest in the flow of oil from the region”, said Vali Nasr, Tufts University Professor.

The Iran navy has begun a 10-days exercise in the area near the strategic Oil route. If Iran abandoned tougher sanctions from the international oil market, it has threatened the closure of Strait. The exercise involves submarines, missiles, drills, torpedoes and drones.

In recent days, pressure from the Western world took new heights on Iran over ambitions of its nuclear program and the deadlock over its potential use. State Department spokeswomen Victoria Nuland said Iran Exhibited “irrational behavior”, over its warning to disrupt oil traffic in the region.

And again Iran roared back on the US and brought the threats to the next level, when Iran’s revolutionary guards commander said that the “US was not in a position to  tell Tehran what to do in the Strait.” Over the last 10 years or so there has been a rift between Iran and international community, over its nuclear enrichment program.

vipflash / Shutterstock.com

The article War of Words Between US and Iran Over Strait of Hormuz appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Israeli president Shimon Peres recently claimed an attack on Iran is closer than ever, and poses the ”biggest threat” to the world right now. A leak alleges Israeli PM Netanyahu will be carrying out an airstrike upon Iranian nuclear facilities’ suspected of developing weapons of war. Netanyahu’s advisors have not denied these allegations, and members of his administration have undergone polygraphs to help determine the source of the leak.

This would not be the first Israeli preemptive strike of this sort. The bombing of Osirak, Iraq in 1981, (condemned by Reagan) and North-Korean influenced Syrian reactors in 2007 (Operation Orchard) were made against countries accused of developing nuclear arms, and without American approval per the memoirs of George W. Bush.

As further forewarning of imminent conflict, Israel has test-launched their Jericho 3 missiles west over the Mediterranean during training exercises. The weapon has been unseen since the only known test in 2008, and capable of traveling 4,000-10,000km with the ability to carry nuclear warheads. Joint exercises with the Italian air force at the Sardinian NATO base and evacuation practices in Tel Aviv may give further credence to a strike, or a simple flaunting of Israeli military might to rogue Iran.

Israel, the US, and the UK allege Iran of satellite images harboring steel containers related to nuclear arms, and computer models simulating nuclear weaponry. The UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have inspected Iran’s radioactive material in the past, accusing Iran of enriching uranium in centrifuges. IAEA is expected to provide a report November 8 detailing what programs are being studied.

In Iranian defense, President Ahmadinejad claims its nuclear engineering is only intended for peaceful practice to better the lives of citizens, alleging the West of disabling their nuclear reactors with a computer virus and assassinations of their scientists. He blames Washington for creating conspiracies to discredit Iran and cause strife with the Saudis complicit with the West.

“The U.S. fears Iran’s capability,” he told Egyptian daily al-Akhbar, “Iran will not permit (anyone from making) a move against it.” He further makes the allegation that Israel owns over 300 nuclear weapons and admits imposed US financial sanctions have affected the Iranian banking sector.

It is unclear what reaction the US would take on an Israeli attack. An American strike on Iran was planned in 2004; the House passed resolution 398, “to use all appropriate means to deter, dissuade, and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.” The plan fell apart in the Senate, and nearly created a campaign simultaneous of Bush’s invasion of Iraq.

Zbiegnew Brezinski claims an Israeli airstrike would lead the US into the war regardless, as they would be an accessory in allowing Israel to fly over restricted airspace above Iraq, and controlled by US air force.

“This would ignite war in Iraq, make Afghanistan even more impossible, and quadruple oil prices. Europe would become even more dependent on Russia for energy, and even conflict with Russia and China, who deals with Iran over oil,” said the former advisor to Jimmy Carter.

Eldad Pardo of the Hebrew University claims Europe, the USA, the Arab world and China would all respond to nuclear threat. Meanwhile, the French foreign minister thinks an attack would destabilize the region.

Israel has been accused by the UN of producing illegal white phosphorous, and failing to declare chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Israel is not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, although is known to own them. The 16 clerics presiding over Ahmadinejad claim Israel does not have the right to exist on a political map.

This may be the most dangerous conflict in the world right now.

The article World Braces for Middle-Eastern Showdown appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.