Report: Iran Tells Departed US Carrier To 'Stay Out Of Persian Gulf'

YNet ^ | 3 Jan 2012 | News Agencies

[edpc]

Iran's army chief told the United States that a US aircraft carrier which left the area because of Iranian naval exercises should not return to the Gulf, the state news agency reported on Tuesday.

"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 emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," Ataollah Salehi told IRNA.

[Pollster1]

That’s funny! Thank you.

[oldsalt]

Wow! Either you're showing your age or you are reminding me how old I am!

The Gulf of Sidra "Line of Death" thing was in 1981...a little more than thirty years ago. I was on board Nimitz at the time and the Libyans were foolish enough to came after us with two SU-22's which were promptly shot down.

The only departure from routine was when a Marine F-4 pilot off the Forrestal thought it would be funny to turn off his IFF and make a run at the Nimitz...the Alert 5 F-14's were on him real quick...luckily he turned everything on...lights,IFF and anything else he could think of.

The Admiral wanted to see him the next day...I'm sure he was well counseled.

[edpc]

In all seriousness, though, their air force is a mishmash of aircraft in varying states of disrepair and availablility. Overally, they probably have a couple dozen functioning F-4s and maybe a dozen flyable F-14s. They also have some Mig-29s and a few Mirage fighters.

The aircraft they have produced on their own are variants of our old F-5s. There's no question air superiority could be achieved quickly vs their quality of equipment and capability of their pilots.

The two biggest assets they have are ballistic missiles and anti-shipping missiles. Mass volleys of both would be the only chance they'd have of making a difference before air superiority was established. Aegis platforms, CIWS, Israel's Iron Dome system, and our radar station in Turkey would be very busy.

[edpc]

I was in middle school at the time of the "Line of Death" incident. I probably started paying more attention and got interested in ME events in '79 after the embassy takeover in Tehran. Really pissed me off, because it was my 11th birthday and that's all anyone was talking about.

I'll never forgive them.

:-D

[shadeaud]

Ok, no more of this foolishness, time to send in the heat. Demand that the POTUS call in the French and have the Greek navy in reserve(after we give em some petrol for their engines and some French chiefs for the galley )

[Scotsman will be Free]

I disagree. If they fire on us, declare war and destroy their military, then their infrastructure. Then who cares what they say and do.

[Sicon]

the enemy’s carrier

Sounds like fighting words to me. Maybe we should park a second carrier group in the neighborhood...

[agere_contra]

They actually called it 'the enemies carrier'?

Gosh, the Middle East is so nuanced.

[DaveA37]

Its been done before!

[matthew fuller]

Has Obama scraped, bowed, and apologized yet? We need to send a carrier battle group up the Potomac River.

[Rocco DiPippo]

Alright already -- let's end this abuse. Time to send a long overdue message to the Ahmadinejads of the world. Proper response: Within seconds of the next verbal tirade from these clowns, their ships in the Gulf get instantly transformed into an oil slick. Afterwards, the White House issues a terse statement saying, "OK, who's next?" Enough is enough.

[rllngrk33]

If our president had any gonads, he'd park a carrier right in the middleof the straits and dare them to try something. Any attack would be met with the total destruction of their military and infrastructure.

But then, I'm just dreaming aren't I?

[DeaconRed]

They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Brave.
They remind me of a high school bully. Gets real brave and mouths off once the enemy is out of sight. Scares the hell out of real small children.
Time to test some more MOABS (Mother Of All Bombs)

[DeaconRed]

Never mind I forgot who our CIC is.
He will apologize before he sends any MOABS. . .

[X-spurt]

Pretty easy for the camel jocks to talk big when they are sure nothing will come of it. Like most of these 8th Century idiots, they have no realistic knowledge of who they are threatening, being election year and nobama looking like a lose, he or dems in general are more likely to start something in hopes of re-election.

Guarantee, when the carrier group sails back into the Gulf, not one peep will be heard, just like many times past.

[LibLieSlayer]

Attacking iran in self defense will not help obama win an election... ask BUSH I! He won a war and clinton killed him because it is “all about the economy... stupid”! Not you... just quoting carville.

LLS

[IMR 4350]

I still laugh thinking about Quadafi(SP?) coming out in his speedboat to take on the US Navy.

[onedoug]

Proceeding according to the islamist in Chief´s plan.

[Boomer One]

I worked with Iranians who fled Iran during my 25 years in the DC area. From what I hear, we should not confuse what Iran's leaders say with what the people want. Despite living under the Shah, Iran was progressive and pro American. Biggest mistake made by Carter in Mideast was not supporting the Shah followed by Obama’s failure to support recent demonstrators. I fear all this swaggering will get hundreds of thousands of innocents killed and that it will spread to the entire region. If Russia and China join in, it's Armageddon.

[misanthrope]

Only a blustering fool would advocate unnecessarily jeopardizing one of our carriers simply to taunt the Iranians.

They have ATTACK AIRCRAFT on them. Remember?