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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Iran to stage massive Gulf military maneuver | |
| 2006-03-29 | |
TEHERAN - Thousands of Iranian troops will on Friday start a week-long military maneuver in the Gulf to ready armed forces for warding off “threats”, a senior commander announced on state television. The commander of the navy of Revolutionary Guards Crops, Rear Admiral Mostafa Safari, did not specify the nature of the threat although the maneuver comes amid increasing tensions with the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
He added: “We hope ... We will gain the necessary and needed readiness to decisively reply to any kind of threats.” “More than 17,000 soldiers and sailors will be used, along with 1,500 different kind of vessels, in addition to the different sorts of jet fighter planes, choppers and different missiles,” he added, but did not say whether Iran will use its ballistic missiles. Iran has medium-range Shahab-3 missiles with the capability of 2,000 kilometers (1,280 miles), able of hitting arch-enemy Israel and US bases across the Middle East. “The exercise will cover an area stretching from the northern tip of the Persian Gulf all the way to the port city of Chah-Bahar in the Sea of Oman extending 40 kilometers into the sea,” he said. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #17 TW... I much prefer the sharks with the brain implants. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-03-29 23:43 |
| #16 Anybody know what we have in the Gulf right now? Regardless, I'm kinda' half suspecting/half hoping they actually try something against one of our ships over there (purely by accident, of course). I suspect the temptation will be too much for some of the diehards and they'll try somethin'. I look forward to seeing the oil slick that's left of those 1500 boats afterwards... |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2006-03-29 23:34 |
| #15 Zhang Fei: I would guess that the 17k are in addition to the 1+ or 2 Corps the Iranians have had deployed on the Iraq border for some time. However, that being said, any push into southern Iraq against the British forces would get snicker-snacked by the US heavy armored brigade currently in Kuwait. Not my first choice of somebody charging up my flank. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-29 20:20 |
| #14 Can we send in the mine-finding dolphins? Pretty please?? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-29 17:47 |
| #13 Whoops - unless they're lying, only 17,000 troops involved. Not the kind of force you would associate with an invasion. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-03-29 17:45 |
| #12 Steve: Nice of them to give our intel people warning. They kind of have to, don't they? Otherwise, we might think they're gearing up for an invasion of Iraq, and take appropriate counter-measures. Heck, they might be prepping for an invasion, anyway - a surprise attack, on the assumption that US forces are overstretched - politically*, if not militarily. It might even be a good idea, if they can coordinate with Iraqi Shiites to stage a mass insurrection. This would be the equivalent of the Tet Offensive, but unlike in South Vietnam, the ruling government (or at least the Shiite portion) would be anti-American, and participate in the attack against US forces. We might find ourselves allying with Arab Sunnis to push back the Iranians - or fighting both Arab Sunnis and Shiites simultaneously. * The media's success at destroying home front support for foreign wars is going to embolden Uncle Sam's adversaries across the globe. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-03-29 17:33 |
| #11 wow is this the big one????? thrilling stuff!! |
| Posted by: ShepUK 2006-03-29 15:09 |
| #10 Nah...you guys got it all wrong. They are planning to stage massive Gulf military Manure. They just translated incorrectly. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-03-29 14:04 |
| #9 Oh God, send me a tsumani! |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-03-29 13:49 |
| #8 Reminds me of the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" scene in which Indiana Jones is confronted by a man wielding a scimitar with fancy moves. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-03-29 13:46 |
| #7 It is most likely a mine-laying drill, accompanied by a submarine and surface ship exercise. After the "exercise" concludes, we will have to re-map every square inch they covered, looking for magnetic signatures, radioactive materials, cables, nets, and other obstructions and weapons they planted. Fair is fair, we might even leave a few of our own. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-29 13:39 |
| #6 Pray for just one stray. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-03-29 13:35 |
| #5 Iran to stage massive Gulf military maneuver fyi: sun dried camel dung floats |
| Posted by: RD 2006-03-29 13:29 |
| #4 Maybe they're rehearsing their version of Dunkirk? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-03-29 13:09 |
| #3 How do you implement a naval strategy with 1,500 different kind of vessels? By working on stuff they can all do, like sink. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2006-03-29 13:08 |
| #2 How do you implement a naval strategy with 1,500 different kind of vessels? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-03-29 13:04 |
| #1 Black Hats...Keep telling yourself that the US forces are no different than Sadaam's Iraqui conscripts he threw into the meat grider in the 80s. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-03-29 12:59 |