US sends Patriot missile system to Middle East amid Iran tensions

[nitpicker]

Source: BBC

The US is sending a Patriot missile-defence system to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran. A warship, USS Arlington, with amphibious vehicles and aircraft on board, will also join the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group in the Gulf. And US B-52 bombers have arrived at a base in Qatar, the Pentagon said.

The US said the moves were a response to a possible threat to US forces in the region by Iran, without specifying. Iran dismissed the claim as nonsense.

Tehran has described the deployments as "psychological warfare" aimed at intimidating the country.
(snip)

The latest Pentagon statement on Friday said only that Washington was "ready to defend US forces and interests in the region", adding that the US did not seek conflict with Iran.
(snip)

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48235940

[paleotn]

1. I wonder....

if the US Navy truly learned anything from the Gotland debacle? The Swedish Gotland class aren't the only AIP (air independent propulsion) boats out there. Iran has some. And the Persian Gulf is like maneuvering in a bathtub, making Abe particularly vulnerable. Bolton and our new Sec Def may get more than they bargained for. A pyrrhic victory at best.


https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018/june/theres-case-diesels

[pazzyanne]

2. Anyone with an ounce of common sense could see where this is headed.

But with Bolton and tRump in charge it is to be expected. Where is all that one on one diplomacy that our discolored president bragged about? Our foreign relationships with North Korea, Russia, China, Iran, and our former EU supporters are in tatters. I fear what comes next from the imbeciles in charge.

[karynnj]

9. Well, Trump's current very unbelievable reason with Iran is that Kerry told them not to call

Even a kindergartner would blush at such a blatantly stupid excuse for Trump's failure. First of all, Kerry openly publicly advised that Iran stop terrorist support and stay in the Iran deal. He talked to Zarif, before Trump pulled out of the deal. However, what does it mean for Iran to "stay in the deal"? It means they continue to abide by the terms and allow the monitoring to continue.

If this is against US policy, we should ask why. Does Trump want Iran to take steps to a bomb? Does he want Iran to disable the elaborate monitoring designed by a team led by Dr Moniz? Should we ask why Iran allowing that monitoring and their destruction of some infrastructure is not as good as all the concessions(?) Trump personally won with North Korea.

Arguments that the Iran nuclear deal did not end all the problems with Iran - something all the countries working toward that agreement readily conceded - does not mean that, in and of itself, it was not an important positive accomplishment. It seems to me like criticizing someone providing a starving person with a healthy entree because a dessert was not provided.

Not to mention, go back to Trump's premise. The "leader of the free world" can't get Iran to talk to him because John Kerry, a man holding no position in any government, told them not to. Could it really be the Pompeo list of what Iran must do before the US will negotiate with them??? (Essentially, surrender)

[McKim]

3. Desperate for a Major Distraction

The Trump Regime is desperate for a major distraction from their troubles. Bolton sees this as his only chance to start a war. This is a mentally sick man! The Iranian people want Peace and to be left alone to run their country as they see fit. I visited there in 2008 and had many conversations on the streets in Tehran and Shiraz. See Code Pink’s recent Peace Delegation to Iran last February.

[yaesu]

4. so, we are sending missiles to Middle East in response to tensions that we started, thats rich. nt

[old guy]

5. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin.

[Baclava]

6. The USS Arlington, with amphibious vehicles and aircraft on board, will also join the strike group

"The USS Arlington is a San Antonio-class ship that transports U.S. Marines, amphibious vehicles, conventional landing craft and rotary aircraft with the capability to support amphibious assault, special operations, or expeditionary warfare missions.”



https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/10/the-us-is-sending-another-warship-and-more-missiles-to-the-middle-east-amid-iran-tensions.html

[WhoWoodaKnew]

7. Shocker. Trump threatening someone.

[Baclava]

8. Iran moving ballistic missiles by boat, US officials say

Washington (CNN)Intelligence showing that Iran is likely moving short-range ballistic missiles aboard boats in the Persian Gulf was one of the critical reasons the US decided to move an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers into the region, according to several US officials with direct knowledge of the situation.

The concerns over the movement of the missiles was one of multiple threads of intelligence from various sources that led the US to believe Iran had a capability and intention to launch strikes against US targets.

It's not clear if the Iran could launch the missiles from the boats or if they are transporting them to be used by Iranian forces on land.

The Pentagon is considering sending additional firepower to the region including anti-missile defense systems, the officials said.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/07/politics/us-iran-transporting-missiles/index.html

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lovely


Iranian news agency ISNA quoted Ayatollah Tabatabai-Nejad in the city of Isfahan as saying: "Their billion dollar fleet can be destroyed with one missile.

"If they attempt any move, they will ... (face) dozens of missiles because at that time (government) officials won't be in charge to act cautiously, but instead things will be in the hands of our beloved leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei)"

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/sends-patriot-missiles-war-ship-middle-east-deter-iran-190511053143462.html

[Brother Buzz]

12. Looks like they may be borrowing Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper's....

Millennium Challenge 2002 blueprint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/06/usa.iraq

[Sapient Donkey]

10. Is there any specific reasons they give for why they are doing this?

I mean, sending carriers and now this? Seems like this all happened out of the blue and they are not even attempting to come up with a reason why other than some vague "threats".

[Baclava]

11. "Their billion dollar fleet can be destroyed with one missile" - they gonna nuke the fleet?

Washington (CNN)Intelligence showing that Iran is likely moving short-range ballistic missiles aboard boats in the Persian Gulf was one of the critical reasons the US decided to move an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers into the region, according to several US officials with direct knowledge of the situation.

[Sapient Donkey]

13. I kinda assumed that was typical Iranian bluster

and it only seems to be in response to our moves. I'm not a defender of Iran or a " 'merica sucks and is always wrong" sort of person, but Iran has just as much right to put missiles on its boats/ships as any other military. Everything I've read says that so far very little specific information about what this is in response to has been made know by the US.

[Baclava]

14. Two Saudi oil tankers attacked in the Persian Gulf

Two Saudi Arabian oil tankers were sabotaged in an attack over the weekend near the Strait of Hormuz, the kingdom’s energy minister said, sending oil prices higher amid heightened military tensions in the Persian Gulf.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-o...lf-11557725971

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"The Spice must flow." - Baron Harkonnen