Regime uses sanctions relief to beef up weaponry, leading their neighbors to do the same.
On July 25, the latest battle in the Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution’s long war on America occurred in the northern end of the Persian Gulf.
When a speedboat manned by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel approached American vessels operating in open water, the U.S. Navy patrol craft USS Thunderbolt issued a series of warnings, all translating as “stay away, keep safe distance.” The Revolutionary Guards kept coming, as they often do, probing until the USN reacts.
A fanatic’s boat weaving among American warships could disrupt the U.S. formation and cause a collision. Tehran propagandists would tout that as a victory at sea. Worse, an Iranian boat might be a water-borne bomb capable of sinking a big ship. The deadly October 2000 terror attack on the USS Cole is very much on the minds of Navy sailors when Iran’s small boats appear. A suicidal zealot in an explosive-packed Boghammer could zig-zag through a USN defensive screen, particularly if the zealot’s boat is one of several in a “swarm.”
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WNU Editor: There are many reasons why there is an arms race in the Middle East right now. The Sunni-Shiite conflict has exploded. Almost every country in the region is now gripped with war .... directly or indirectly. The big powers are reluctant to expand and escalate their role in the Middle east to defuse the situation over fears that they may get dragged into a quagmire. And while it is true that the Iranian nuclear deal did give the Iranians some money as well as markets for their oil .... the regional tensions that are driving this arms buildup have been around for centuries .... and having a few extra dollars in the treasury will not be the reason that makes everyone decide that they now may need to buy weapons. On a bright note .... at least we are not having a nuclear arms race in the Middle East .... for now.
