By Douglas V. Gibbs
Following reports that Iran was planning on test firing long range missiles in the Strait of Hormuz, tensions around the world rose. Iran has already threatened to close the strategic oil waterway, and enforcement could come by these missiles. Iran's military exercises over the past week has caught everyone's attention, but the comment by Iran's navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi that "not a drop of oil" would pass through the strait if The West followed through with sanctions in response to Iran's nuclear ambitions was the real attention getter.
Saudi Arabia has taken the threats to heart, and is preparing for the worst. The nation has bought new aircraft, and is modernizing seventy existing planes while procuring munitions, spare parts, training and maintenance contracts. Two U.S. warships are in the region where Iran is conducting its war games, but the ships are passing through on a pre-planned, routine operation.
The missile tests that got everyone into battle-ready positions were supposed to be conducted today, but Iran has announced that they plan to delay those tests of their long-range capabilities as fresh talks on Iran's nuclear program appear on the horizon. The European Union has said they are considering a ban - already in place in the United States - on imports from Iran.
This has all been typical Iranian tactics, first threatening to close Hormuz, and then magically being willing to talk about their nuclear program. They are saying, in a sense, "Give me what I want in the latter, or the former becomes a reality."
Some of Iran's missiles are believed to be capable of striking Israeli and U.S. bases in the Middle East, raising concern in Washington. The widely publicized military drills by Iranian state television is an attempt to strike a patriotic chord among ordinary Iranians, while sending a warning to any Western opposition.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Iran to test-fire missiles in key oil waterway - Breitbart
Iran Delays Missile Test - Reuters/Yahoo News
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