Iranians Head for Suez Canal

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs ^ | February 18, 2011 | Dr. Dore Gold

[jerusalemjudy]

Iran has been seeking to establish that it is the hegemonial power in the Middle East. Its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave an interview to the Iranian daily Ressalat on July 7, 1991, and asked a rhetorical question: "Do we look to preserve the integrity of our land, or to we look to its expansion?" He then answered his own question: "We must definitely look to expansion.” And indeed, in the years that followed, Iranian forces have been involved in regional subversion from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia and most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan. Khamenei's spokesman, Hossein Shariatmadari, wrote on July 9, 2007: "Bahrain is part of Iran's soil." For the last 20 years, the Iranian leadership has been remarkably consistent.

Now Iran wants to demonstrate that its naval power is not just confined to the Persian Gulf, within its immediate neighborhood, but that its warships can reach as far as the Mediterranean Sea. This mission is well beyond what might be expected of the Iranian Navy. It should be remembered that the regular Iranian Navy still consists of relatively old ships from the time of the Shah, which its commanders hope to modernize with new weapons systems, particularly naval missiles. According to a report by the Office of U.S. Naval Intelligence, the Iranian Navy is preparing itself to project its power beyond the Strait of Hormuz with new naval bases in the Gulf of Oman that will be ready in 2015. Previously, Iranian warships have in fact reached Sudan and Somalia, but they have not entered the Mediterranean. Moreover, Iran's other naval force that belongs to the Revolutionary Guards specializes in the use of small naval craft within the Persian Gulf that are being trained for "guerilla war at sea."

[mgstarr]

One of the two ships, the Iranian frigate Alvand.

[skeeter]

The Israelis ought to have their SEALs equivelant waiting at the mouth of the canal to attach limpet mines to the propeller shafts of each warship as it emerges.

[agere_contra]

The Seals it can deliver via torpedo tube from any one of its three undetectable Dolphin-class submarines?

Heh, its a great idea and the IN certainly have the capability.

[skeeter]

It’d be hilarious & it’d really p*ss em off.

[NeverForgetBataan]

The weather forecast for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, this weekend, is as follows:

Partly cloudy skies with a 100% chance of nuclear war.

High temp of 2000 degrees.

#50 SPF sunblock recommended.

[taildragger]

In addition weld an underwater boom box that plays the Village People's YMCA and In the Navy as well as the Chicken of the Sea jingle, very loud and continuous ....

Humiliate these girleeman, but they may not get my humor, but many in the rest of the word would.

[BRK]

I don’t think the Saudi’s want Bahrain to be part of Iranian soil. They would be very concerned about that and so would Qatar.

[Razwan]

.....perhaps a couple of torpedo malfunctions.....

[Joe Boucher]

Israel should somehow sink the iranian ships JUST before they enter the suez.

[Ax]

I wonder if the Islamic Iranian Navy still has some of those old 70s Hovercrafts that the Imperial Iranian Navy of the Shah used on operations against Oman.