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LONDON -- Iran's fleet has the capacity to inflict crippling damages on any US vessels in the Persian Gulf, a French newspaper reports. In an article in Le Figaro published on Wednesday, George Malbrunot has written that Iran has a tactical defense scheme in the Persian Gulf to implement against any possible US attack. Malbrunot noted that the Islamic Republic has mass-produced a large number of speed boats with rocket launchers and other sophisticated military equipment which are able to strike a heavy blow on any foreign warship if the country comes under attack.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran announced Tuesday that it has put the elite Revolutionary Guards in charge of defending the country's territorial Persian Gulf waters in what appeared to be a hardening of its stance in the vital oil route. U.S. commanders in the Gulf have in the past said they find Guards ships more confrontational than the regular Iranian navy, which until the new order was responsible for Iranian defenses in the Gulf. Iran has warned repeatedly that it will close the narrow Hormuz Strait at the mouth of the Gulf if the United States or Israel attacks it amid...

Kuwait has activated its Emergency War Plan after an armada of US naval battle groups headed for the Persian Gulf, Middle East Times reports. The report comes after DEBKAfiles claimed on Monday that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Ronald Reagan, and the USS Iwo Jima are sailing toward the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US strike forces in the region. The US naval force is accompanied by a British Royal Navy carrier battle group and a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine. The deployment is believed to be the largest naval task force assembled by the United States and its allies...

Operation Brimstone ended only one week ago. This was the joint US/UK/French naval war games in the Atlantic Ocean preparing for a naval blockade of Iran and the likely resulting war in the Persian Gulf area. The massive war games included a US Navy supercarrier battle group, an US Navy expeditionary carrier battle group, a Royal Navy carrier battle group, a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine plus a large number of US Navy cruisers, destroyers and frigates playing the "enemy force". The lead American ship in these war games, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN71) and its Carrier Strike Group Two (CCSG-2)...

Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times. Kuwait began finalizing its "emergency war plan" on being told the vessels were bound for the region. The US Navy would neither confirm nor deny that carriers were en route. US Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment due to what a spokesman termed "force-protection policy." While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believed were heading for the Middle East, The Media Line's defense analyst said they could...

Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times. Kuwait began finalizing its "emergency war plan" on being told the vessels were bound for the region. The US Navy will neither confirm nor deny that carriers are currently en route. US Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment because of what a spokesman termed "force-protection policy." While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believes are heading for the Middle East, The Media Line's defense analyst said they...

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Operational Brimstone, starting Monday, July 21, aimed at giving military teeth to the two-week ultimatum the six world powers gave Iran in Geneva Saturday to accept the suspension of uranium enrichment or face harsh sanctions and isolation. The penalty of withholding refined oil products from Iran would be exercised by means of a partial international naval blockade of its Gulf ports. Taking part in the 10-day exercise in the Atlantic Ocean are more than a dozen ships, including the US carrier strike group Theodore Roosevelt and expeditionary strike group Iwo Jima; the French submarine Amethyste,...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran tested more missiles in the Persian Gulf, state media reported Thursday, a day after the country drew Western criticism for test-firing nine rockets.

TEHERAN - Iran reiterated that it would block the oil export route in the Persian Gulf if attacked, a Teheran newspaper reported Saturday. "It is understood that a country would use all possible options against an aggressor if militarily attacked. In that case, Iran would also intensify control of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz," the commander of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards told Jam'e Jam daily. General Mohammad Ali Jafari also warned neighbouring countries not to take part in any military strike plans against Iran. The general made the statement in reference to reports that the United States and...

MEXICO CITY, April 30, 2008 – The movement of a second aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf this week doesn’t signal an escalation of the U.S. naval presence -- but could serve as a “reminder” of it to countries in the region, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here last night. Gates did not specifically name Iran when responding to a reporter’s question about the arrival this week of USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf. “The size of our naval presence in the Gulf rises and falls constantly,” he said. “This deployment has been planned for a long time. I...

A second American aircraft carrier steamed into the Persian Gulf Tuesday as the Pentagon ordered military commanders to develop new options for attacking Iran. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that the planning is being driven by what one officer called the "increasingly hostile role" Iran is playing in Iraq - smuggling weapons into Iraq for use against American troops.

A vessel contracted by the Navy in the Persian Gulf fired warning shots Thursday on two Iranian fast boats, FOX News has learned. The Westward Venture, a ship contracted by the Navy to carry military cargo to Kuwait, fired upon the boats Thursday after attempts to get Iranian boats' attention failed. The ship was about 50 miles off the coast of Iran when the fast boats approached. A Navy security team, armed with M16 rifles and .50-caliber machine guns, was onboard at the time the warning shots were fired.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose sharply Friday on news reports that a ship under contract to the U.S. Navy fired warning shots at two Iranian boats. The report on Fox News raised concerns that a conflict between U.S. and Iranian forces could cut oil supplies from the Persian Gulf region. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose $2.85 to $118.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising as high as $119.50. Prices were already up before the report on news of a pipeline attack in Nigeria and a looming refinery strike in Scotland. At...

U.S. and Gulf allies in exercise to block ships carrying WMDs April 21, 2008 ABU DHABI — The United States has held a rare naval exercise with Gulf states which it said was not directed at Iran. The U.S. Navy began the exercise on April 19 meant to test Gulf Cooperation Council capabilities to block the entry of ships that carry weapons of mass destruction. This was the second such exercise in the Gulf in as many years. Officials said Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar participated in the exercise while representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia observed.

Another source: http://cbs2chicago.com/national/iran.naval.confrontation.2.697662.html The Navy says a ship encountered a small Iranian high-speed boat in the central Persian Gulf and warned it away by firing a flare. Two other similar Iranian boats in the area did not come as close. The USS Typhoon tried unsuccessfully to establish radio contact with the Iranian boat after it came within an estimated 200 yards of the Typhoon on Thursday, outside Iranian territorial waters. A Navy official says the ship then fired the flare and continued on its way without incident. The official says there were no signs any boat was armed. It was...

Nothing followed.

Updates welcome. The story just showed up. Casus belli ?

An American nuclear submarine has crossed the Suez Canal to join the US fleet stationed in the Persian Gulf, Egyptian sources say. Egyptian officials reported that the nuclear submarine crossed the canal along with a destroyer on Friday and Egyptian forces were put on high alert when the navy convoy was passing through the canal. An American destroyer recently left the Persian Gulf, heading towards the Mediterranean Sea; earlier Thursday, a US Navy rescue ship crossed the canal to enter the Red Sea. The deployment comes as recent reports allege that US Vice President Dick Cheney is seeking to rally...

ARABIAN GULF — The Royal Navy has taken command of the Coalition Maritime Forces protecting Iraq's vital oil platforms in the Northern Arabian Gulf. Commodore Duncan Potts RN has taken over command of Combined Task Force 158 (CTF158) from Commodore Allan du Toit of the Royal Australian Navy. Command of the Task Force is rotated between the UK, US and Australia. The UK last held command of CTF158 in July 2007 and will command the Task Force until August. Combined Task Force 158's primary mission in the Northern Arabian Gulf is maintaining security in and around both the Al Basrah...

Turns out Google already had another cartographic controversy on its hands. Earlier this week we learned of an Israeli city's slander lawsuit against the search giant based upon Google's refusal to remove a user-generated Google Earth notation that identifies the community of Kiryat Yam as Arab Ghawarina. A Google spokesperson told me that the notation violated no aspect of the company's terms of use agreement, no matter how much it violated the sensibilities of Kiryat Yam officials. In this second controversy, however, Google does not have the "We didn't do it" card at its disposal. That's because Google itself has...

Iran bristles as French forces head for war games in the Gulf By Ben Hall in Paris and Simeon Kerr in Dubai February 23 2008 French armed forces will take part in large-scale war games in the Gulf next week, underlining France's growing military presence in the region amid heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions. France will deploy 1,500 personnel, two frigates and eight Mirage fighter jets to the defence exercises, held in conjunction with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Paris has long-standing defence co-operation agreements with the two countries and is one of their biggest suppliers of arms....

Not content with finishing construction of the "The World", a constellation of man-made islands forming the shape of the continents, Dubai's developer, Nakheel, is to build "The Universe": an archipelago of reclaimed islands depicting the sun and the planets and moons of the solar system. Only half of The World's islands have been sold, but Sultan bin Sulayem, Nakheel's chairman, says Dubai is pressing ahead with another offshore project. Residents have already moved into apartments and villas on Palm Jumeirah, the city's first reclaimed development, which will boast several deluxe hotels, including a refurbished Queen Elizabeth II, the liner's final...

PARIS (AP) - For sale: A palatial pleasure yacht with swimming pools, opulent salons and, should the winds of war blow, a rocket launcher and mini-submarine. The sale of the 269-foot Ocean Breeze, built for Saddam Hussein and docked on the French Riviera, could be thwarted, however, if Iraq can prove it belongs to someone in the late dictator's entourage - and now, therefore, to the government in Baghdad. A court hearing will likely be held in March to determine the rightful owner. The government in Baghdad suspects the yacht, which French authorities seized on Jan. 31, is still Iraqi....

Open letter to Google Earth 2008-01-26 Open letter to Google Earth Google Earth uses the incorrect name of the Persian Gulf It has come to our attention that Google Earth has been using an unrecognized name for the Always and Forever, Persian Gulf. Considering the fact that it is in Googles interest as a search engine is to support educational and scientific institution, it is hard for us to fathom how they made reference to the Persian Gulf with an unrecognized name. The United Nations, in addition to historical records and facts that date back more than thousands of years,...

Iran Says French Base in Gulf "Not Conducive" to Peace February 03, 2008 Reuters Fredrik Dahl TEHRAN -- Iran declared on Sunday that a French military base in the Gulf would not help security and peace in the oil-rich region. Paris signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates in January to build France's first permanent military installation in the Gulf, just across the water from Iran. The base will accommodate 400 to 500 personnel, keeping France within reach of sea lanes through which over a third of global oil shipments pass. "We are against any kind of increase in...

TEHRAN (AFP) - A gas field with an estimated 11 trillion cubic feet in reserves has been discovered in the Gulf off the coast of Iran, Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Saturday. "A gas field with an estimated reserve of 11 trillion cubic feet (311 billion cubic metres) was found by an Indian company in the Persian Gulf," Nozari told a news conference.

CAIRO, Egypt - Iran's top military commander said Saturday that his forces would retaliate against American military bases in the Persian Gulf if they are involved in any possible future attack on Iran.

Six gulf states control sovereign wealth fund assets of some $1.7 trillion. Here are the men who manage these funds The men who manage the so-called sovereign wealth funds of the Persian Gulf for their governments are quickly becoming some of the world's most powerful money managers. They are using billions from Persian Gulf oil revenues to change the face of global finance by buying big chunks of blue chip companies, partnering with private equity firms to do buyouts, and increasingly snapping up companies on their own. As the credit crisis deepens, investment banks and buyout firms are stepping back...

IIn the movie “Die Hard 2,” a terrorist is laying out his nefarious plans to the air-traffic control chief — played by one Sen. Fred Thompson — at Dulles International Airport. “Dammit, you can't do this!” an aghast Thompson tells the terrorist character. “I am doing this!” snarls the terrorist. With similar melodramatic aplomb, the Iranians played a potentially deadly game of chicken just as all eyes were fixated on Thompson and the rest of the New Hampshire hopefuls. As Iranian speedboats confronted U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, a radio transmission intoned in the speaker's best Darth Vader English,...

George Bush calls Iran 'leading terror sponsor' By Damien McElroy In Riyadh Last Updated: 4:46pm GMT 13/01/2008 President George W Bush has condemned Iran as the foremost threat to global security as he attempted to rally Gulf states behind a tougher line against the Islamic Republic during a tour of the region. In a keynote speech in Abu Dhabi President Bush said it was time to confront an Iran that supported terrorism and defied the United Nations to pursue secret nuclear research. "Iran is today the world's leading state sponsor of terror," he said. "It sends hundreds of millions of...

WASHINGTON (AP) - An al-Qaida terror suspect detained in England was sent to the United States in early 2001 by the principal architect of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings to perform surveillance on economic targets in New York, according to U.S. officials and government interviews with other captured terror suspects. They said the suspect claimed he has associates in America, possibly in California. Abu Eisa al-Hindi was arrested in a roundup last week in Britain along with 11 others. The disclosure that al-Hindi also was known as Issa al-Britani provides tantalizing details that further link al-Hindi to recent Bush administration...

US reveals new Iran 'incidents' Iran has described the incident as an "ordinary occurrence" Iranian speedboats approached US warships in two previously undisclosed incidents in the Strait of Hormuz in December, a US Navy official has said.The USS Whidbey Island fired warning shots during one of the encounters on 19 December, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He also described a third stand-off on 6 January - that sparked US protests - as the most serious incident. Iran has accused the US of faking its video of the most recent encounter. 'Radio threat' The US official...

CAIRO, Egypt - The top U.S. military commander in the Mideast said Friday that Iran runs the risk of triggering an unintended conflict if its boats continue to harass U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf. Adm. William J. Fallon, chief of U.S. Central Command, said a threatening radio call heard during an encounter Sunday between U.S. Navy ships and Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz was likely connected to Iran's provocative actions. He said the exact origin of the message was still unknown. "This kind of behavior, if it happens in the future, is the kind of event that...

Lockheed eyes additional missile sales in Gulf Tue Jan 8, 2008 2:30pm EST By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has provided technical details to Saudi Arabia and Qatar about advanced systems to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles, hoping to add to missile sales already planned to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, company officials said on Tuesday. The Bush administration last month announced plans for sales of Lockheed's Patriot PAC-3 missiles to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait with a potential combined value of nearly $10.4 billion. The sales are part...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two U.S. Navy fighter jets plunged into the Persian Gulf Monday, after what initial reports suggest was a mid-air collision, a defense official said. All three pilots ejected safely from the planes and were headed back to the USS Harry Truman, the aircraft carrier they were operating from, according to the official, who requested anonymity because the information was preliminary and not yet released publicly. No other details or the crash were released. One of the F-18 jets that crashed held two pilots, the other held just one. The crash occurred at about 1 p.m. EST.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday that a confrontation between Iranian boats and U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend was "something normal" and was resolved. It suggested the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels. The Pentagon said that in the incident early Sunday, five small Iranian boats repeatedly "charged" U.S. warships in the Gulf's Hormuz Strait and dropped boxes in the water. The boats warned the U.S. ships that they would set up "explosions," a U.S. Defense Department official said. The U.S. craft were on the verge of opening fire when the...

US Navy commanders were moments away from firing on Iranian attack ships during a skirmish in the Straits of Hormuz, it has emerged. Damien McElory: American armada prepares to take on IranA Pentagon spokesman revealed that five Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy boats harrassed and provoked three US ships in the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf at the weekend.   The Persian Gulf is the scene of tensions between Iran and the US The Iranian craft came within 200 yards of the US vessels, which were sailing in international waters. The Iranian provocations included disregarding warnings...

Why We're in the Persian Gulf December 27, 2007 WSJ Walter Russell Mead -excerpt- The U.S. today depends on the Middle East for only a small portion of its energy supplies. -Excerpt- Imports account for 35% of U.S. energy consumption versus 56% for the European Union and 80% for Japan. -excerpt- Only 17% of U.S. oil imports and less than 0.5% of our natural gas come from the Persian Gulf; 80% of Japan's imports come from the Gulf, and by 2015 70% of China's oil will come from the same source. -excerpt- ... a global economic and political system has...

Investor's Business Daily summarizes the evidence counselling against (underestimating Tehran and Moscow). The IBD editorial is a good companion to Walter Russell Mead's important Wall Street Journal column ("Why America's in the Gulf") (subscribers only. Mead's column concludes:Today the U.S. is building a coalition against Iran's drive for power in the Gulf. Israel, a country which has its own reasons for opposing Iran, remains an important component in the American strategy, but the U.S. must also manage the political costs of this relationship as it works with the Sunni Arab states. American opposition to Iran's nuclear program not only reflects...

- Oil prices jumped more than $1 to top $66 a barrel Monday on fears of escalating U.S.-Russian tensions and a cyclone threatening the Persian Gulf.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has taken command of Iranian naval operations in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. military has revealed. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the disclosure Wednesday at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was answering questions from military students. Afterward, in a written statement, the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said, "Based on activities observed in the Arabian Gulf over the past several months, it appears the Iranian navy has shifted its patrol areas to the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman --...

Dubai 2007: Military markets buoyant as key procurements take shape A number of local Gulf air arms place some importance on being seen to be operating the latest and most capable fighters. But any new procurements will be driven by military necessity rather than prestige or a desire to keep up with the neighbours, writes Jon Lake. Saudi Arabia’s purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon makes it the first operator of a new-generation fighter in the region, and now aircraft manufacturers expect to see other Middle Eastern nations scramble to catch up. In particular, developments in Iran are having a real impact...

Navy to patrol Gulf in the spring By David Blair in Manama Last Updated: 2:49am GMT 02/11/2007 A Royal Navy aircraft carrier will be deployed in the Gulf next spring, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. HMS Illustrious will sail for the highly sensitive waters near Iran Illustrious will sail for the highly sensitive waters near Iran accompanied by Edinburgh, a Type 42 destroyer whose main role is providing air defence, and Westminster, a Type 23 frigate. Two minesweepers and three support vessels from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary will complete the deployment for Operation Orion 08. The ships will spend...

WASHINGTON - U.S. defense officials have signaled that up-to-date attack plans are available if needed in the escalating crisis over Iran's nuclear aims, although no strike appears imminent. The Army and Marine Corps are under enormous strain from years of heavy ground fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, the United States has ample air and naval power to strike Iran if President Bush decided to target nuclear sites or to retaliate for alleged Iranian meddling in neighboring Iraq. Among the possible targets, in addition to nuclear installations like the centrifuge plant at Natanz: Iran's ballistic missile sites, Republican Guard bases,...

Cdn frigate leaves Halifax harbour for six-month deployment in Persian Gulf HALIFAX - A Canadian warship steamed out of Halifax harbour on Thursday to resume patrols in the Persian Gulf and gain intelligence on potential terrorist activity in the volatile region. Hundreds of weeping family members lined the military dock as HMCS Charlottetown made its way out to sea to begin a six-month mission involving surveillance, boarding suspicious vessels and ensuring the safety of a waterway that's key to the international trade of oil. Commander Patrick St-Denis said the ongoing naval presence is vital in the area despite criticisms that...

MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy began a series of exercises in the Gulf and wider Gulf waters on Friday involving a U.S aircraft carrier and two expeditionary assault ships. The five-day crisis response exercise involved amphibious, air and medical forces, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, said in a statement. "The scenario is challenging but prepares us for a real-world event," Commander Jay Chambers, of Combined Task Force 59, said. The start of the exercises coincided with world powers agreeing at talks in London to push ahead with a third round of sanctions against Iran, unless reports...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. military strike against Iran would have dire consequences in petroleum markets, leading U.S. newspaper Washington Post reported Friday. Many experts think the prospect of pandemonium in oil markets makes U.S. military action unlikely despite escalating economic sanctions imposed by the Bush administration, according to the report. The small amount of excess oil production capacity worldwide would provide an insufficient cushion if armed conflict disrupted supplies and petroleum prices would skyrocket, the report said. The newspaper also expressed the fear that a wounded or angry Iran could easily retaliate against oil facilities from southern...

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- The Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHRESG) entered the 7th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) Oct. 7, after nearly four months of operations in the Persian Gulf. The strike group proved their capability and versatility by completing multiple operations and participating in training with Coalition forces during their time in the Gulf. “Throughout our deployment, the Sailors and Marines of the BHRESG have shown great flexibility and distinguished themselves with great tactical sense and unwavering focus to the task at hand,” said Capt. Bradley D. Martin, BHRESG and Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 7 commander. “The crews of...

By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Sep 18, 2007 MANAMA, Bahrain - The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is pressing Arab allies to form a more united front against Iran, seen by Washington as the region's long-term threat. At military compounds and royal reception halls across the Persian Gulf, Adm. William Fallon is delivering personal appeals to Arab leaders to counter Iran's ambitions to expand its regional influence and move ahead with its nuclear program. Fallon has carefully avoided publicly discussing any war contingency plans or making any direct threats against Iran, which sits in his sphere...

HONG KONG: A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier will return to India next month despite angry protests, its commander said on Monday, highlighting the closer military ties between the two nations. The USS Nimitz, one of the world's largest warships, will head back to the Bay of Bengal the first week of September to participate in a joint exercise involving 25 ships from India, Australia and Singapore. It will be the carrier's second visit to India in two months, having been near the country's southern coast in Chennai in July, which was seen as a landmark event in the growing defence...