Western powers and several of their Middle East allies have deployed an enormous naval fleet to the Persian Gulf just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again suggested that his country may soon launch a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
The fleet includes ships from 25 nations, include three full US carrier groups, each one with a compliment of more aircraft than the entire Iranian air force. Military officials cited by London's Daily Telegraphsaid the buildup is part of a new annual exercise, but their was no secrecy about the fact that the "enemy" in the exercise is Iran.
There is great fear among Western powers that if Israel strikes Iran's defiant nuclear program, the Islamic Republic will retaliate by trying to close the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf that that sees the daily transit of 18 million barrels of oil, or roughly 35 percent of the world's traded oil. For that oil tap to be shut off would have potentially catastrophic consequences for the economies of the US, Britain, the Euro Zone and Japan, among others.
There is also great concern that Israel is planning to strike Iran before the US presidential election in November in order to force President Barack Obama to militarily support the effort. Obama would likely lose a lot of votes among the pro-Israel American public if he did not help, and Jerusalem is worried that if it waits until after the election and Obama wins, he will be less inclined to provide assistance.
No comments:
Post a Comment