Posted on 01/23/2012 7:26:04 AM PST by blam
Following New EU Sanctions, Iran Says Closing The Strait Of Hormuz Is Now Its Legal Right
Robert Johnson
Jan. 23, 2012, 7:49 AM
Following the formal adoption of an oil embargo against Iran by the European Union, a senior Tehranian lawmaker says his country now has every right to block all traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Associated Press reports that Heshmatollah Falahapisheh says that closing the strait is "an increasing possibility" (via Stars and Stripes).
The new EU sanctions ban all new oil contracts with Iran, while leaving contracts made before July 1 untouched.
The BBC reports that the EU currently purchases about 20 percent of Iran's crude exports and that this move will have "substantial impact," which UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says will show "the resolve of the European Union on this issue."
The issue to which he's referring, of course, is Iran's continued breach of UN resolutions and for failing to negotiate on its nuclear program.
Iran's announcement that it now has the legal right to close the strait comes after more than a month of posturing and warnings directed toward the U.S. and Europe, threatening to shut the waterway if additional sanctions were imposed.
Last week Tehran threatened to torpedo any U.S. carriers in the Persian Gulf by setting its diesel-electric subs on the sea floor and torpedoing the carriers as they pass.
Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army's Self-Sufficiency Jihad, Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri told FARS that Iran has the finest electric diesel submarines
(snip)
"We are not in the habit of repeating the warning and we warn only once," Salehi said, without mentioning the Stennis.
The U.S. has two carriers in the Gulf right now while the British and French have sent frigates and warships.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Nice pic, I followed the link to her wiki page and discovered that she has 16inch guns. Wow, she is a big girl. I thought only Iowa class had 16 inch guns. I love big guns.
To augment the seemingly impossibly thick armor and those famous mammoth 16" guns, the Navy outfitted the modernized Iowa-Class battleships with some REALLY cool 'toys' that were not available during WW-II, or even the Vietnam era: things like four Phalanx platforms to help assure that no anti-ship missiles would get even within a few miles of the ship, never mind testing its armor; Harpoon and/or Tomahawk missiles; and modern electronic tracking/monitoring/countermeasures equipment.
When the modernizations of the Missouri and her three sister ships were completed they were most definitely not "your grandfather's battleships". Even today I would doubt Iran has anything in its arsenal that could cause them significant harm.
It is my understanding that the Iowas had to be decommsioned because their hulls were thinning due to electrolysis. Building a new BB with modern gunnery with be very expensive but modern 16inch guns could I am told hit targets 100 miles away. Something to think about.
The now banished FReeper Non Sequitur advised me to get the book Shattered Sword, The untold story of the Battle of Midway
It is perhaps the best description of the mindset and preparedness of the Japanese Navy out there. It also details the nearly by minute operations of both of the adversaries and denies much of what is thought to be gospel. The replacement is based on many many reports and sources. It refutes the tale of the Japanese officer on which most of the gospel is based.
The good part is the detailed description of the Japanese Navy
In any event, I would not think it would be too difficult, or expensive, to design and implement some form of cathodic protection system to slow/halt the electrolytic deterioration of ships’ hulls.
They can still fire the 16 inch guns, good for 20-22 miles but the real whoopass could be launched from > 100 miles out.
You are of course correct, and I dated myself terribly with my remarks - I stand ashamed and properly castigated.
We’d still mop the floor in a few days and establish air superiority (pout) :’-(
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