Experts are speculating that war could break out between Iran and the U.S. due to escalation of the conflict in Gaza. Iran seems to be betting that the U.S. will give up its interests in the middle east and allow Iran to be in charge rather than get embroiled in a war against the mighty Iranian military. A U.S.-Iranian Miscalculation Could Lead to a Larger War, Officials Say
“Neither Washington nor Tehran wants the conflict in the Gaza Strip to trigger a wider war in the region, officials in both capitals say.” pretty much this. Which is why I suspect Iran isn’t going to do anything.
The US has been tolerating attacks on its interests, with tit for tat responses. The goal is to weaken US support for Israel For example, recently: Missiles fired from Yemen toward US warship that responded to attack on commercial tanker | CNN Politics Two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi rebel-controlled Yemen toward a US warship in the Gulf of Aden, after the US Navy responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker that had been seized by armed individuals, the US military said Sunday. The incident comes after Iran-backed Houthi forces launched numerous attacks against US interests in the region, and Israel, since the October 7 Hamas attacks, as fears continue to ripple across the region that the Israel-Hamas war could widen.
Iran doesn't have to do anything. They are supplying weapons to Yemen, Hamas, factions in Syria, and almost everyone else in the middle east. There is no shortage of people in the middle east willing to take shots at the U.S. or Israel if someone supplies them with weapons.
One difference is that IDF is a military force of a legitimate country that has a right to defend itself. The groups that Iran is funding and supplying with weapons (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, etc.) can't say that. Another difference is that the insurgents and terrorist groups that Iran is supplying weapons to are making attacks on U.S. troops and U.S. ships. Sooner or later, U.S. military personnel will be killed. Remarkably, most of the violence in the middle east is done with weapons supplied by Iran. GWB, to a certain extent, invaded the wrong country in 2003. GWB and Trump were both given reasons to attack Iran when Iran attacked U.S. troops in Iraq, but both presidents failed to act, and as a result, the middle east is still a very dangerous place.
It is past time to sink the rest of it while simultaneously striking and destroying every military installation that we have the location of, which would be most. The world will be a much better place immediately
Probably wouldn't make much difference. Don't think Iran's overall military strategy includes having a strong navy. They are more of a "let's send out a hundred Zodiacs with bombs strapped to them". They are more than happy to do the proxy war thing with sending weapons to others.
That would be their asymmetrical strategy for mitigating the threat we present, yes. But the reason they still need that navy is that their desired end state is to be regional hegemon over the Gulf states, what they perceive as Iran’s natural place among its neighbors. Losing their fleet would hurt their prestige, and they know it, which is why they try to keep their conflict with us below a boiling point.
But Iran can say it has a right to defend itself by arming its proxies, just like we can say it lol. And of course we have armed and still arm non-state actors too, so ...
So because the other gulf states don't have robust navies, they want to keep theirs intact as much as possible? Kinda like the tallest midget.
This, plus I had included the destruction of all known military installations to reduce their ability to provide for their proxy wars. They would have to use their money rebuilding their own rather than providing it to the rest of the trash over there
Iran lays claim to the Red Sea, and says that the U.S. Navy would be in severe danger if it protected shipping in the Red Sea. (The Red Sea doesn't even border on Iran.) Basically, Iran's Defense Minister said that the entire region belongs to them. They may have to sink another wooden aircraft carrier model to get the point across. Iran warns against proposed U.S.-backed Red Sea force - ISNA
not disagreeing. Just noting that they have a lot more than wooden aircraft carrier models to support their claims.
