I checked where we have bases in the area. We do not, at least that I could find, have a base in Turkmenistan. They turned our offer down.
We do have airbases (I think - old info) in Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Both of those could be used for a Caspian routed strike on Tehran.
Flying from Afghanistan direct into Iran would be shorter - but still longer than carrier based strikes from the Persian Gulf. Plus you have the added risk of more time and distance over enemy territory.
I kinda think that the initial strikes on Tehran would come from long-range B-1, B-2 and Tomahawks. Which means distance is not a problem. This would go on until much of the anti-aircraft capability is neutralized. Then the carrier based stuff could do the low level precision stuff.
Unless Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs get religion soon (pun intended), I suspect we'll know in the coming months.
Just as a side note, B-1 Lancer bombers have been seen over Baghdad - first time since 2003....a non-too-subtile message to Iran.
You are more knowledgeable in military matters than I am, that's for sure. Caspian sea = one more area to guard = spread too thin. That was the fake-out of the beach landing in kuwait, 1991, iraqi troops diverted and out of the REAL action.
The only real war experience the iranians have had was the 8 year long war with iraq, which was inconclusive, just excess mouths on both sides no longer needing to be fed(malthusian solution). Now the municipal elections have brought up the guns vs butter issue for the iranian people. Do they want to be dragged back to the barbaric jihad of the 9th century, or be welcomed into the 21st century?
Jesus said it best : when you see a king coming at you with 3 times your army, best send an ambassage. If the iranian nutjobs didnt get the message of a 3 week campaign to take down saddam's army 5 years ago, and still mouth off like punks, then we HAVE to show them again who's BOSS.
Look at the checkerboard : india/afghanistan/UAE/kuwait/iraq/israel/turkey/egypt vs saudi/jordan/syria/pakistan/iran...libya knuckled under, algerian military keeps its nutjobs in check, morrocco(sp?) is not all that hostile to us. And so when the nutjob looks around, there isn't much in the way of allies he can COUNT on. Lip service? No end of THAT, but HARD support = little more than fellow suicide bombers.
These nutjobs just don't really understand why we are the sole remaining superpower left, the super PREDATOR. All of our previous wars have but sharpened our teeth, we do a good job just killing EACH OTHER off as others who get in our way. Movie : PATTON.
And yet we are generous to a fault, look at all the MONEY we are sinking into iraq to rebuild it to modern standards. We do that with every country we conquer, what other empire in history has done anything like that on the SCALE we do? As a shriner : a plug : what other country in the WORLD has 22 hospitals that treat crippled and burned children for FREE, often at a cost of $300,000/child(or more), over 400,000 kids in 80 years?
So it comes down to a simple question : who takes out the iranian nutjobs/terrorists? We/israel with a LOT of military ordinance and LOTS of collateral damage, or the iranian people in a second revolution? Its getting to be CRUNCH time folks...