https://southfront.org/gulf-conflict-report-prospects-of-war-between-iran-and-us/
The situation in the Middle East is heating up once again.
On July 19, an unknown aircraft carried out a strike on positions of the Popular Mobilization Units at the Al-Shuhada base in the northern Saladin province north of Baghdad, Iraq.
Pro-Israeli sources speculated that several Iranian-backed fighters and members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed or injured in the attack. They further claimed that the targeted positions had been used to store Iranian-delivered rockets.
The Iraqi military released a statement saying that two PMU members were wounded in the attack. The PMU said that no Iranian military advisers or other personnel had been wounded.
The airstrike was likely delivered by the Israeli Air Force. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to attack Iranian targets across the region. Mainstream Israeli-US propaganda argues that the PMU, likely the most powerful armed formation in Iraq, is an Iranian proxy force.
On July 18, the US claimed that its warship – the USS Boxer, currently positioned in the Persian Gulf downed an Iranian drone flying above it.
In response, Iran released a video of the USS Boxer, presumably filmed by the said drone. The IRGC further said that the drone hadn’t been downed, with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister mocking the US that it may have “accidentally downed its own drone.”
The US claimed that it could provide evidence that it had destroyed an Iranian UAV, but no such information has been released. Washington did vow to destroy any Iranian drone that flew above its warships from now on.
On July 19, the IRGC seized a UK-tanker – the Stena Impero. It also detained and subsequently released another tanker – the MV Mesdar, with its sailors saying that the IRGC were professional, they boarded the vessel, carried out an inspection and let it go on its way.
The Stena Impero, however, according to the Iranian side had its tracker turned off and collided with a fishing boat, while in Iranian territorial waters. The crew of 23 is on the ship, while an investigation is carried out and their safety is ensured, according to the IRGC. The IRGC boarded the Stena Impero, using a helicopter and military boats.
The British side threatened Iran with “severe consequences” that would likely include sanctions on Iran, as well as more deployments to the Persian Gulf.
To top it all off, UK media alleged that Russia played a part in the seizure of the Stena Impero by spoofing GPS, and thus moving the British tanker into Iranian waters. No evidence to substantiate the claims was provided, but as it has become apparent simply mentioning “Russian malign influence” instantly makes it fact.
The US has continued its military buildup in the region by deploying 500 troops, a Patriot missile defense battery and other equipment to an airbase near Riyadh. The additional troops could potentially participate in clandestine operations to support the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, where it is fighting the Houthis, which Washington sees as Iranian proxies.
Despite all of this, Persian Gulf states maintained a restrained attitude. Although some Gulf countries do not like the regional activities of Iran, they understand that the United States will not be able to protect them in the case of a serious conflict. The consequences of such a war cannot be predicted, and even the United States cannot be confident of victory.
In the case of an attack, Iran could destroy vital facilities in the Persian Gulf, such as oil refineries, hydropower plants and desalination systems. The military doctrine of Iran adopted in 1988 aims to transfer any war to the enemy’s territory. For example, Iran could use Syria, Lebanon and Gaza as a launching pad to strike Israel, similar to the way it uses Yemen against Saudi Arabia. A fully-fledged war could lead to a repartition of influence and the rise of the pro-Iranian Shi’a, which would collapse the oil-rich Sunni monarchies. As a result the world might be overcome by an economic crisis, perhaps even more global than all the previous ones.
The Western mainstream presstitutes are full of facts and rock solid evidence. Not. This is an excellent analysis of the current situation, and frankly, I’m just holding my breath, and waiting for the next bout of nuttiness from Bolton, Hunt, and co. The next false flag ‘incident’ must be due in the next few days, aye. One wrong move or miscalculation will open the gates of hell in the Middle East.
And we all know exactly who will be responsible for this. Its like some surreal dream at the moment.
Iran in case of a regional war should immediately shut down the Hormuz.
Of course geographic situation is all in Iran ‘ s favor. So the IRGC could instead declare a full block of the strait but keep a narrow lane -adjacent to their beaches -secretly open for later use of Iranian boats.
of course this is perfecly feasible and the iranians can take good advantage of it.
Not sure…to me this is a last resort. The Saudis have a pipeline to the Red Sea so they’re hedged if Hormuz gets closed…and noone else will get their oil out of the Persian gulf.
The USA knows all this, and it partly explains their typical hyper-belligerence. Shutting down the Gulf will badly affect China, Japan, India and the EU, all trade and economic enemies of Trumpistan, which is, very temporarily, self-sufficient in hydrocarbons thanks to the mirage of ‘fracking’ success.
The report says “Iran could use Syria, Lebanon and Gaza as a launching pad to strike Israel, similar to the way it uses Yemen against Saudi Arabia.”
But from what I have read, Iran’s relationship to the Houthi in Yemen is political only, non-material. The supposed Iran-Yemen link is used to justify ongoing slaughter by the Saudi/US/UAE coalition, but it is a lie.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/yemen/
I do wish people here would stop writing about the “Houthis”. These guys are Yemenis from Northern Yemen and they have lived there for eons. The Israelis have only been in Palestine since 1948 and no one calls them “Jews” — except in private by all Arabic-speakers in the Middle East.
The Zionazis say ‘Jews’, as in the laws that declare Israel ‘the State of the Jews or the Jewish People’, giving them preferential treatment in the country and providing transport to Israel, and the Occupied Territories, for any Jew anywhere, while Palestinians whose families have lived in Palestine/Israel for millennia are denied the right to return, and those not yet ethnically cleansed see their homes demolished or infested by Jewish settler barbarians.
Yes, I had the same reaction to that strange statement from southfront. What evidence is there that Iran “uses Yemen against Saudi Arabia”? As far as I can tell, Saudi Arabia is the aggressor in Yemen.
Yemenis are *not* proxies of Iran. That’s psychobabble of the usual suspects that just want to grab oil. Yemenis are quite independant and are not desperately waiting for ‘allies’. Yes, they share Shia roots with Iran, but that’s it. Are Poland and Italy natural allies because both have catholic roots?
Yemen is underestimated, the country is soaked with weapons. Eventually it will be a painful defeat for the Saudis and their own mercenaries (e.g. Pakistani soldiers fight for them).
To get a view what they are fighting against: https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/07/23/self-fulfilling-prophecy-trumps-middle-east-policy-could-push-yemen-houthis-into-iran-hands/ (title is clickbait imho.)
Cheers, Rob
“the rise of the pro-Iranian Shi’a, which would collapse the oil-rich Sunni monarchies. As a result the world might be overcome by an economic crisis”
Why would it cause a crisis if we had to pay “pro-Iranian Shia” for some Persian Gulf oil instead of paying Rothschild’s “oil-rich Sunni monarchies” for the same oil? Surely the oil would not suddenly become more expensive to produce? Or does this reporter expect that House of Rothschild will use their Anglo-Zio-Capitalist tools to manufacture a world economic crisis? The way the AZC manufactured a world economic crisis in 2003-2008 by invading Iraq and sending oil to $200. But the two cases are entirely different: the rape of Iraq delivered oil into the hands of Rothschild companies; but the liberation of Arabia from “oil-rich Sunni monarchies” would free that oil for development of Arabia for the Arabian people rather than (as present) for the profit of Anglo-Zio-Capitalistan.
“In the case of an attack, Iran could destroy vital facilities in the Persian Gulf, such as oil refineries, hydropower plants and desalination systems. The military doctrine of Iran adopted in 1988 aims to transfer any war to the enemy’s territory. For example, Iran could use Syria, Lebanon and Gaza as a launching pad to strike Israel, similar to the way it uses Yemen against Saudi Arabia”
Silly. Iran would strike the mushrooming network of US Army bases in the Gulf and around Iran. Obviously.
@smr. Not silly at all — to strike the Gulf Arab oil facilities would be to hit the Anglo-Zio-Capitalists where it really hurts: in their purses. lt was only when the IRA began bombing some banks in the AZC’s heartland — the financial district of London — that the AZC’s Westminster regime hastened to negotiate peace in Northern Ireland.
” lt was only when the IRA began bombing some banks in the AZC’s heartland — the financial district of London — that the AZC’s Westminster regime hastened to negotiate peace in Northern Ireland.”
Actually, that is not how it happened. The IRA disabled the traffic lights on major roads into London. A few days of that and Westminster surrendered. It was a very smart move and very simple as well.
Disrupting the traffic lights in City of London was exactly like disrupting traffic through the straits of Hormuz. EU has already refused Great Britain’s request to send EU warships to “protect” EU merchant ships because marine traffic there is already strait enough. Let’s see what Great Britain’s new PM, Bigmouth Boris the Buffoon, will contribute to ease his country out of the embarrassingly tight situation into which Great Britain’s impulsive FM, Jumping Jeremy Hunt, has landed Great Britain.
“I speak politely and act rationally because I represent a civilized country, Russia.” — President Putin.
A combination of several things, yes, but the eye opener was several mortars that hit a Heathrow runway. Message received. Which was nice optics. But the main motivator was that, for the UK to join the EU, the countries had to be stable with no military conflicts. So everyone was bought off.
It is understandable America’s allies in the region fear the ‘United States will not be able to protect them in the case of a serious conflict’ because of Iran’s long reach. Washington must fear becoming embroiled in another Middle Eastern war, drawing it into direct conflict with a Sino-Russian alliance, making a local conflict a global one.
“In the case of an attack, Iran could destroy vital facilities in the Persian Gulf, such as oil refineries, hydropower plants and desalination systems.”
Yes – and much, much more but – there is another factor which is very much in the minds of the Zionists.
In the event of a war on Iran, Israel would be completely destroyed (and the Palestinians would get their country back.)
This interview with Hezbollah leader General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah will doubtless have been pored over in Tel Aviv. Washington and London. One hopes also that Russia has told the AZs not to even think about using
nuclear weapons.
“Nasrallah: The Next War Will Devastate Israel and Decimate its Population, We Will Liberate Palestine and Pray in Al-Quds”
Excerpts –
“If you look at the coastal strip of Israel, here on this greater map, the narrowest part of the whole (Zionist) entity, of which we have an enlargement here. In this rectangle from (the city of) Netanya to Ashdod, we have a length of 60 or 70 kilometers. In some places, the width of this area is (only) 14 kilometers, and elsewhere, it is up to 20 kilometers. We also see another problem with Israel, which is the lack of strategic depth. Looking at the heart of this area, it gets narrower, and we have a length of 40 kilometers and width of 20 kilometers. But let us consider the broader area, from Netanya to Ashdod.
Half of the population, or just over half of Israel’s (Jewish) population, according to different surveys, lives there. Just look at the targets we have in this area, which in the best case, is 1200 square kilometers, an insignificant area (from the military point of view). It’s a confined area. We are not engaged in a war with a huge State with vast spaces, which would lead us to wonder how we can reach all the (strategic) targets in its territory. In this small rectangle, are located all the main bodies of the (Israeli) State, be it the government, the Ministries, the Ministry of War, the Command and General Staff of the Army, Ben-Gurion International Airport, the national airports, the Air Force bases, military bases with unconventional weapons (chemical and nuclear), petrochemical plants, nuclear power plants… All this is in this small area. We should also mention the ports of Tel Aviv and Ashdod, the military armament factories, civil and industrial complexes, major trade and finance hubs, the Israeli Stock Exchange, the main plants for generation and distribution of electricity, refineries and suppliers of gas, centers for treatment and distribution of water, oil refineries, etc. 90% of these (targets) are in this area.
Journalist: What does this mean?
Hassan Nasrallah: Imagine, therefore, that there is a Resistance with a ballistic capability, meaning thousands, tens of thousands of missiles or even more –I will not give a more precise order of magnitude (of what we have)–, all able to reach this area. For it is not necessary for us to hit Southern Palestine or any other area, (we can focus on this strategic central area). We can hit the North with some type of missiles (our smaller range rockets), and the rest of our missiles, instead of wasting them on the North, we will focus them on this coastal strip. Can this entity hold on and endure (such devastation)? Here is the Stone Age! Who will return the other to the Stone Age?
Even in the North, we have already spoken of the ammonia storage in Haifa, a problem that they have not resolved despite their attempts to do so.
One day, in one of my speeches, I said that we had a nuclear weapon, and the whole audience laughed, but I told them I was not joking. They thought I was joking. I told them that a single missile targeting the ammonia warehouses in Haifa, two missiles at most, the Israelis themselves say that if that happened, there would be tens of thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of casualties, and that the whole area would become unlivable. And I do not even talk about the operation (to liberate) Galilee, about our land force, about our entry into the dear beloved land of Palestine, I speak only of our firepower. Is that day (where Israel will burn under thousands of missiles) coming? Yes, this day will come, and we are ready for it.”
https://resistancenewsunfiltered.blogspot.com/2019/07/nasrallah-next-war-will-devastate.html#more
https://www.voltairenet.org/article207095.html
I agree with voltairenet, the UK is now as big a factor to consider as the US and the monster Macron led France
We still do not know if the prior “reports” about tankers being attacked in a port are true…to the more publicised (staged?) event of tanker attacks allegedly by limpet or airborne missile no confirmation yet there….the missile attack in Iraq was Israeli missiles says Iran as they are the same missiles used against Syria attacking so called Iran positions…..but what is the legal position re the tanker hijacked by UK ….UK cannot use EU sanctions to seize non EU vessels??????? What is Iran’s options legally as it does not seem to be doing anything…what do international lawyers say…..why no comments or appeals to world trade bodies eg WTO.
Was there a fishing vessel damaged?
Some shipping companies are-?- changing from UK registration to Chines as China reasserts its right to trade with Iran without restrictions and says USA must stop its illegal sanctions methods….
I wouldn’t be surprised if Israel is planning in the future to eventually convince the Americans into a war using for example a huge false flag, in order to start a war against Hizbollah and Iran using the US. The possible aims:
– to actually destroy the Gulf states
– basically destroy as much of Lebanon as possible
– do its best to reduce Iranian capabilities in the area
– basically bringing as much of the Middle-East into chaos
– resetting the global economy…bringing the US and Europe to their knees ?
Just random thoughts…
“For example, Iran could use Syria, Lebanon and Gaza as a launching pad to strike Israel, similar to the way it uses Yemen against Saudi Arabia.”
Using Yemen against Saudi Arabia?
Didn’t the Saudis attack Yemen with the backing of FUKUS (France, UK, US)?