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Iran Super Thread- Merged

The US is moving ships to Yemen to block Iranian weapons shipments.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/20/us-warship-iran-weapons_n_7102168.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
 
9 Iranian ships trying to run through the USN blockade?

Military.com

Carrier Roosevelt Keeps Close Watch on Nine Iranian Ships Off Yemen
Apr 21, 2015 | by Bryant Jordan

The U.S. left open the possibility that nine Iranian cargo ships in international waters off Yemen could be stopped and searched if they attempted to reach port.

The nine ships being monitored by the Navy "remain in international waters in the Gulf of Aden," said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren. "They have not declared their intentions or what they're going to do. We're able to keep a close eye on them."

Warren declined to answer a "hypothetical" on whether the Navy would stop and board the ships to search for arms if they crossed from international waters into Yemen's territorial waters.

The U.S. has charged that Iran has supplied arms and other support for Shia Houthi rebels who have taken the capital, Sanaa, and are now pressing the remnants of government forces in the port city of Aden.
Warren said the addition of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its escort, the cruiser Normandy, to the other U.S. ships in the area gave the U.S. numerous options.
(...SNIPPED)
 
In an ideal world, the Saudis or the Egyptians should be the ones who will actually stop and board the ships, since they have the dogs in the fight.

I wonder if that COA is being actively explored by the interested parties?
 
T6:
The US is moving ships to Yemen to block Iranian weapons shipments.

Ah, T6, What are the Carrier Groups orders? On one hand the Obama Administration is supposedly negotiating a Nuc deal with Iran, and on the other hand they are supposedly going to stop, board, and search Iranian flaged ships to ensure arms do not reach the Iranian backed rebels in Yemen. This is the Iran that called the POTUS a liar, countering Pres Obama's Rose Garden announcement on the nec deal, by stating no inspections and absolutely no inspections on Iranian military installations.

What happens if these vessels are escorted by the Iranian Navy, have Revolutionary Guard detachments on them, or are reflaged as Iranian Navy ships?

Unfortunately another Obama "Red Line", and another embarrassment to the USA.

How's this for a mixed message?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/21/sources-us-aircraft-carrier-fighter-jets-shadowing-iranian-convoy-near-yemen/

Officials giving mixed messages on why US aircraft carrier shadowing Iranian convoy

Mixed messages on mission of US warship in Yemen waters

An American aircraft carrier and its warplanes are shadowing an Iranian convoy approaching Yemen, as the U.S. beefs up its presence in the region -- but back in Washington, officials can't seem to agree on why.

Pentagon sources confirmed to Fox News that the USS Theodore Roosevelt is tracking the Iranian convoy, and also launching F/A-18 Hornets to conduct "manned reconnaissance" of the estimated nine Iranian ships.

Those ships are suspected of carrying weapons to rebel fighters in Yemen.

But State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf insisted Tuesday that the U.S. ships were "only" there to "ensure the shipping lanes remain open and safe" -- and "not to do anything in terms of those Iranian ships."

She blasted "misreporting" that asserted U.S. ships were prepared to intercept Iranian vessels.


"That is blatantly untrue -- so this discreet movement of U.S. assets is for a discreet purpose," Harf said. 

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest also said Tuesday that the ships are in the region primarily to "protect the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce."

However, Earnest acknowledged the U.S. is very interested in tracking the movements of any potential arms deliveries to Houthi rebels.

He said "any effort by Iran or anyone else to provide weapons to the Houthis would be a clear violation" of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Earnest said the U.S. and its partners are "serious about the Iranians not providing weapons to the Houthis," and making sure the U.N. arms embargo is taken seriously.

The Pentagon also acknowledged the convoy is a factor.

Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said the aircraft carrier is there to assure the waterways are open. But, he added, "they have moved to that area in response to the deteriorating security situation in Yemen. Many have asked me whether or not they are there because of the Iranian ship convoy or flotilla that is also in the area. That is certainly one of the factors."

The mixed messages, though, leave unclear how far the U.S. would go to enforce the embargo. The U.S. Navy generally conducts consensual boardings of ships when needed, including to combat piracy around Africa and the region. So far, however, U.S. naval personnel have not boarded any Iranian vessels since the Yemen conflict began.

A senior defense official at the Pentagon on Tuesday pushed back on reports that the White House has made a decision about boarding the suspected ships.

"The White House is not even close to making a decision," the official with close ties to the administration said.

But the movements nevertheless escalate a standoff in the waters off Yemen, which comes as the U.S. and other world powers are trying to hammer out a diplomatic deal with Iran on its nuclear program.

Navy officials first confirmed Monday that the USS Theodore Roosevelt -- along with her escort ship, the USS Normandy, a guided-missile cruiser -- had been dispatched to the Arabian Sea to help enforce a blockade of any Iranian weapons shipments to Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Iranian convoy consists of a mix of freighters, suspected of carrying those weapons, and warships.

The convoy is about to cross over from waters off the coast of Oman to those off the coast of Yemen, in the Arabian Sea. The Iranian convoy is steaming toward an unknown port in Yemen.

The Iranian Navy ships are characterized as "smaller than destroyers," according to a Pentagon official with knowledge of the convoy. Asked what type of weapons the freighters are carrying, one Pentagon official said, "they are bigger than small arms."

The U.S. Navy has been steadily beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea amid concerns about the Iranian convoy. There are now nine Navy warships, and three support ships, in the region.

The deployment comes after a U.N. Security Council resolution approved last week imposed an arms embargo on rebel leaders. The resolution passed in a 14-0 vote with Russia abstaining.

With the U.S. Navy's only aircraft carrier now out of the northern Persian Gulf, the Navy's contribution to the air campaign against the Islamic State also has been temporarily halted.

The U.S. Air Force has conducted 70 percent of the airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria to date. A spokesman from the U.S.-led coalition said from its headquarters in Kuwait that, "We have plenty of resources [to strike ISIS], and we are not concerned about a loss of effectiveness." But he admitted, "More is certainly better."

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 
Just as important are the orders the Iranian commander has if the USN tries to board his ships.Fight or turn for home ?
 
Looks like the Iranian ships have turned for home.Crisis averted.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/04/23/fleet-iranian-ships-heading-to-yemen-turns-around-after-being-tracked-by-us/
 
T6:
Looks like the Iranian ships have turned for home.Crisis averted.

So the Administration says. Since everyone in the Administration, incl the Joint Chiefs of all people, toes the Obama line which means stretching the truth, we will see.

I see the Rear Adm. John Kirby who was the media spokesman for DOD has a new civilian job as head spin-person of the Dept of State. Very unusual.
I wonder what General Petraeus knew that kept him under investigation for two years, now two years probation (Obama is gone in 18 months) plus $100K fine.
On the Sgt Bergdahl case, Admiral Mullen does not remember meeting members of his platoon when visiting Afghanistan who told him of Bergdahl desertion. Unfortunately a fifth member of the platoon has the group photo of them and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. This is the same Adm Mullen, retired, who cleared Hillary of any wrong doing WRT the Benghazi incident, without interviewing Hillary.
 
Rifleman62 said:
T6:
So the Administration says. Since everyone in the Administration, incl the Joint Chiefs of all people, toes the Obama line which means stretching the truth, we will see.

I see the Rear Adm. John Kirby who was the media spokesman for DOD has a new civilian job as head spin-person of the Dept of State. Very unusual.
I wonder what General Petraeus knew that kept him under investigation for two years, now two years probation (Obama is gone in 18 months) plus $100K fine.
On the Sgt Bergdahl case, Admiral Mullen does not remember meeting members of his platoon when visiting Afghanistan who told him of Bergdahl desertion. Unfortunately a fifth member of the platoon has the group photo of them and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. This is the same Adm Mullen, retired, who cleared Hillary of any wrong doing WRT the Benghazi incident, without interviewing Hillary.

Reminds me of a movie line by Jack Nicholson " The truth?  You can't handle the truth."
 
While on active duty US military personnel particularly senior officers are not to venture into political waters.Criticism of civilian leadership is also not allowed.
 
T6:
While on active duty US military personnel particularly senior officers are not to venture into political waters.Criticism of civilian leadership is also not allowed.

You don't think this is political waters?

On the Sgt Bergdahl case, Admiral Mullen does not remember meeting members of his platoon when visiting Afghanistan who told him of Bergdahl desertion. Unfortunately a fifth member of the platoon has the group photo of them and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. This is the same Adm Mullen, retired, who cleared Hillary of any wrong doing WRT the Benghazi incident, without interviewing Hillary.

Integrity?
 
Desertion is a military matter,however Obama seems to have put the word out to go easy on Bergdahl.
 
Too bad if he's sticking his fingers where they shouldn't belong.  Bergdahl deserves to get the maximum of whatever could have coming to him. 
 
As posted in the Pan-Islamic Civil War thread, the Theodore Roosevelt battlegroup is also leaving Yemeni waters.

Military.com

Pentagon Cites De-Escalation of Tensions over Iranian Ships

WASHINGTON — The prospect of a U.S.-Iranian confrontation over the potential delivery of Iranian weapons to rebels in Yemen has receded, Pentagon officials said Friday.

U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said the nine-ship Iranian convoy had reversed course, heading back in the general direction of Iran. Earlier this week, it had been on a course toward the Yemeni port of Aden.

"We do not know their future intentions," Warren said, but the ships as of Friday were in the Arabian Sea, proceeding to the northeast off the coast of Oman.

Warren said the prospect of a confrontation had abated.
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Iran has upped the ante by seizing a US cargo ship with a crew of 34.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32503660
 
tomahawk6 said:
Iran has upped the ante by seizing a US cargo ship with a crew of 34.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32503660

Apparently not a US ship or crew.

Initial media reports suggested the vessel was a US cargo ship but US officials denied this and said no Americans were on board.

 
More from gCaptain:  http://gcaptain.com/maersk-ship-seized-by-iranian-forces-in-strait-of-hormuz/

GCaptain's story reports that the MV Maersk Tigris is flagged in the Marshall Islands.  The article quotes a Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steve Warren, as follows:

    “At approximately 0905 Zulu, April 28, M/V Maersk Tigris, a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel, was approached by several Iranian IRGCN patrol vessels while in Iranian territorial waters transiting inbound in the Strait of Hormuz.

    The master was contacted and directed to proceed further into Iranian territorial waters. He declined and one of the IRGCN craft fired shots across the bridge of the Maersk Tigris. The master complied with the Iranian demand and proceeded into Iranian waters in the vicinity of Larak Island.

    NAVCENT directed a DDG (USS Farragut) to proceed at best speed to the nearest location of Maersk Tigris, and directed aircraft to observe the interaction between the Maersk vessel and the IRGCN craft. NAVCENT is communicating with representatives of the shipping company and we continue to monitor the situation. According to information received from the vessel’s operators, there are no Americans aboard.”
 
Privateer said:
GCaptain's story reports that the MV Maersk Tigris is flagged in the Marshall Islands. 

Isn't the Marshall Islands a US protectorate? Much like the Northern Marianas, etc. So this ship would still fall under US interests then?
 
And as such, the US is expanding its response to the Iranian seizure of the Maersk Tigris:

Military.com

Three US Navy Patrol Craft Join Destroyer to Counter Iran in Straits
Apr 29, 2015 | by Richard Sisk

Three U.S. Navy fast patrol craft joined the destroyer Farragut Wednesday in the Straits of Hormuz to counter Iranian threats to safe passage through the waterway following Iran's moves against a Marshall Islands-flagged container ship.

Iranian speedboats on Tuesday fired warning shots across the bridge of the MV Maersk Tigris, which was registered in the Marshall Islands. Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard later boarded the ship, claiming it had strayed into Iranian territorial waters.

The Maersk Tigris and its crew of 24 are anchored between Iran's Larak Island and the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, Pentagon officials said.

The destroyer Farragut, which entered the Straits at "best speed" Tuesday following the takeover of the Maersk Tigris, was joined by the Cyclone-class patrol craft Typhoon, Firebolt and Thunderbolt, said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren.
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The USN to boost its presence in the Persian Gulf: shades of the Iran-Iraq "tanker war" of the 1980s?

Military.com

US Navy Ships to Accompany US-Flagged Ships in Gulf

Associated Press | Apr 30, 2015 | by Robert Burns

WASHINGTON — U.S. Navy ships will begin accompanying U.S. commercial ships during their transit through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf to ensure they encounter no interference from Iran, U.S. defense officials said Thursday.

The new policy, which has not yet been announced officially, was adopted in response to what Washington views as provocative Iranian behavior. Earlier this week Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps naval vessels reportedly fired warning shots near a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship and have detained it and its crew.
Iran says it intervened with the Maersk Tigris because the Maersk shipping line owes it money awarded in a lawsuit.

(...SNIPPED)
 
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