Iran test-fired anti-ship missile during drills last week: U.S. source

[rooster59]

Iran test-fired anti-ship missile during drills last week: U.S. source

 

FILE PHOTO: Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012, a day before the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran test-fired a short-range anti-ship missile in the Strait of Hormuz during naval drills last week that Washington believes were aimed at sending a message as the United States reimposes sanctions on Tehran, a U.S. official said on Friday.

 

The official, however, did not suggest that such a missile test was unusual during naval exercises or that it was carried out unsafely, noting it occurred in what could be described as Iranian territorial waters in the Strait.

 

Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Sunday it had held war games in the Gulf over the past several days, saying they were aimed at "confronting possible threats" by enemies.

 

U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, head of the U.S. military's Central Command, said earlier this week the scope and scale of the exercises were similar to ones Iran had carried out in the past. But the timing of this particular set of exercises was designed to get Washington's attention.

 

"It's pretty clear to us that they were trying to use that exercise to send a message to us that as we approach this period of the sanctions here, that they had some capabilities," Votel told reporters at the Pentagon.

 

Iran has been furious over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear program and re-impose sanctions on Tehran. Senior Iranian officials have warned the country would not easily yield to a renewed U.S. campaign to strangle Iran's vital oil exports.

 

Last month, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backed President Hassan Rouhani's suggestion that Iran may block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are stopped.

 

Votel said the U.S. military was keenly aware of Iran's military activities.

 

"We are aware of what's going on, and we remain ready to protect ourselves as we pursue our objectives of freedom of navigation and the freedom of commerce in international waters," Votel said.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-11

[Chomper Higgot]

Sovereign state fires missile, no innocent civilians killed.

[keith101]

The rest of the world should tell Trump to go F£££ himself and the US can go it alone until he is ousted from the Presidency but thats just my opinion .

[Srikcir]

9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

the timing of this particular set of exercises was designed to get Washington's attention.

Iran doesn't need to time any military exercises to get Washington's attention.

It can holler "war" at any time and the Trump administration will fall over itself to aggressively respond.

[Tug]

Just seeing if it can carry a N Korean nuke wouldn’t bottle to much of the fleet up there Donald 

[geriatrickid]

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the busiest shipping zones in the world and carries much of the world's oil, including that destined for SE Asia.  Anyone making a joke of this and saying it is ok to fire missiles in a densely packed area filled with oil tankers is either an irresponsible fool, or oblivious to the  environmental damage risk, as well as the risk to  economic stability.  

 

If oil shipments are disrupted, the people of Thailand will suffer.  Thailand imports 50% of its energy requirements. Most of the oil is imported. A disruption in the energy supply would cause factories to close, and food supplies to the big cities to choke as fuel for transport ran out. Much of Thailand's daily life, so dependent upon  automobiles would come to a halt. Manufacturers dependent upon petro chemical products would not be able to produce. If some people think they have a tough time  now, just consider what happens if there is an oil crisis in the world.

 

Iran can fire off all the missiles it wants, but they should do it in a safe place, and not in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

 

[HappyinNE]

1 hour ago, geriatrickid said:

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the busiest shipping zones in the world and carries much of the world's oil, including that destined for SE Asia.  Anyone making a joke of this and saying it is ok to fire missiles in a densely packed area filled with oil tankers is either an irresponsible fool, or oblivious to the  environmental damage risk, as well as the risk to  economic stability.  

 

If oil shipments are disrupted, the people of Thailand will suffer.  Thailand imports 50% of its energy requirements. Most of the oil is imported. A disruption in the energy supply would cause factories to close, and food supplies to the big cities to choke as fuel for transport ran out. Much of Thailand's daily life, so dependent upon  automobiles would come to a halt. Manufacturers dependent upon petro chemical products would not be able to produce. If some people think they have a tough time  now, just consider what happens if there is an oil crisis in the world.

 

Iran can fire off all the missiles it wants, but they should do it in a safe place, and not in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

 

Then if Thailand will suffer so much why are they and a bunch of others expecting the US to keep the Straits of Hormuz open.  It seems to me that with fracking the US doesn’t need oil from the Persian Gulf and it could just stop exports to China to meet its needs.

 

Maybe the countries that need Persian Gulf Oil like China, Japan, England, France and the rest of the EU along with others like India and Thailand should send their navies to the Persian Gulf to insure that their oil does not get cut off.  If the US was smart it would inform the rest of the world that we will do nothing to keep the Straits of Hormuz open.  There are a bunch of other countries that need it open more than the US does.

[stevenl]

14 minutes ago, HappyinNE said:

Then if Thailand will suffer so much why are they and a bunch of others expecting the US to keep the Straits of Hormuz open.  It seems to me that with fracking the US doesn’t need oil from the Persian Gulf and it could just stop exports to China to meet its needs.

 

 

 

Maybe the countries that need Persian Gulf Oil like China, Japan, England, France and the rest of the EU along with others like India and Thailand should send their navies to the Persian Gulf to insure that their oil does not get cut off.  If the US was smart it would inform the rest of the world that we will do nothing to keep the Straits of Hormuz open.  There are a bunch of other countries that need it open more than the US does.

 

So you're saying the US boycotts Iran and is doing its utmost best to force others to join, but US should just ignore the consequences.

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

Iran can fire off all the missiles it wants, but they should do it in a safe place

Iran has a sovereign right to use its territorial sea waters to conduct naval exercises such as firing its anti-ship missiles within the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz is divided only  between Oman and Iran.

 

So long as either nation's naval activities in their sovereign waters don't present a hazard or blockade to international shipping, ie., minelaying the seaways,  international passage through the sovereign waters of both Iran and Oman, ie., the Strait of Hormuz, is mandated.

The key such unhindered international passage is the Third United Nations Law of the Sea Conference (UNCLOS III):

"On the one hand, Iran has signed but not ratified the UNCLOS, but it has ratified the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone. On the other hand, Oman, the other coastal state, has ratified UNCLOS. Both Iran and Oman, however, subject the passage of foreign warships to prior notification. The United States has not signed UNCLOS but considers it to reflect customary international law." (my italics)

 

Transit Passage Rights in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s Threats to Block the Passage of Oil Tankers published by The American Society of International Law (May 2012) that discusses the legality of Iran blocking international ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/16/issue/16/transit-passage-rights-strait-hormuz-and-iran’s-threats-block-passage

 

 

 

[simple1]

8 hours ago, HappyinNE said:

Then if Thailand will suffer so much why are they and a bunch of others expecting the US to keep the Straits of Hormuz open.  It seems to me that with fracking the US doesn’t need oil from the Persian Gulf and it could just stop exports to China to meet its needs.

 

 

 

Maybe the countries that need Persian Gulf Oil like China, Japan, England, France and the rest of the EU along with others like India and Thailand should send their navies to the Persian Gulf to insure that their oil does not get cut off.  If the US was smart it would inform the rest of the world that we will do nothing to keep the Straits of Hormuz open.  There are a bunch of other countries that need it open more than the US does.

 

Not a good idea to encourage the Chinese to send warships to the Gulf. In anycase the US is totally reliant on foreign trade for a successful economy. You create the geopolitical tensions impacting your trade partners, you assist with the defense of those trade routes.

[IAMHERE]

Protecting the the Strait of Hormuz is a 'favor' the USA is doing to assist the economies of other countries. The USA doesn't get an of the oil that is shipped thru that strait; America should withdraw and let the rest of the world do the fighting and for once. It is a waste of dollars and patriotism to protect middle east oil.

[Grouse]

9 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Protecting the the Strait of Hormuz is a 'favor' the USA is doing to assist the economies of other countries. The USA doesn't get an of the oil that is shipped thru that strait; America should withdraw and let the rest of the world do the fighting and for once. It is a waste of dollars and patriotism to protect middle east oil.

So stay home USA. Thanks.

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Protecting the the Strait of Hormuz is a 'favor' the USA is doing to assist the economies of other countries. The USA doesn't get an of the oil that is shipped thru that strait; America should withdraw and let the rest of the world do the fighting and for once. It is a waste of dollars and patriotism to protect middle east oil.

So why is USA boycotting Iran, and forcing others to do the same?

[simple1]

4 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Protecting the the Strait of Hormuz is a 'favor' the USA is doing to assist the economies of other countries. The USA doesn't get an of the oil that is shipped thru that strait; America should withdraw and let the rest of the world do the fighting and for once. It is a waste of dollars and patriotism to protect middle east oil.

Why is it that trump supporters apparently fail to comprehend global trade is essential to the US economy. It is so simple to understand, ME oil provides energy for US trade partners. It is in the strategic interest for the US to contribute to protection of oil trade routes

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

So why is USA boycotting Iran, and forcing others to do the same?

It gets more bizarre as the US just imposed high import tariffs against Turkey that has a negative trade balance with the US.

Yet in June 2018 Turkey’s biggest oil importer Tupras cut back purchases of Iranian crude since May, when the United States said it would re-impose sanctions on Tehran.  NATO member Turkey depends heavily on imports to meet its energy needs and neighboring Iran has been one of its main sources of oil because of its proximity, crude quality and favorable price differentials.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-oil-turkey/turkeys-tupras-reduces-iranian-crude-purchases-as-u-s-sanctions-loom-idUSKBN1KA22Y

Trump snaps out foreign policy seemingly with no overall strategic analyses that address complex global interconnected relationships. The end result will be a weakening of the US on the world political stage.

 

[Chomper Higgot]

18 hours ago, Srikcir said:

It gets more bizarre as the US just imposed high import tariffs against Turkey that has a negative trade balance with the US.

Yet in June 2018 Turkey’s biggest oil importer Tupras cut back purchases of Iranian crude since May, when the United States said it would re-impose sanctions on Tehran.  NATO member Turkey depends heavily on imports to meet its energy needs and neighboring Iran has been one of its main sources of oil because of its proximity, crude quality and favorable price differentials.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-oil-turkey/turkeys-tupras-reduces-iranian-crude-purchases-as-u-s-sanctions-loom-idUSKBN1KA22Y

Trump snaps out foreign policy seemingly with no overall strategic analyses that address complex global interconnected relationships. The end result will be a weakening of the US on the world political stage.

 

Perhaps we should ask who benefits from economic collapse of Turkey?