If I were Iran, I wouln't take that lying down.
Posted on 01/04/2016 7:40:41 AM PST by tcrlaf
Over the weekend, a series of dramatic events stemming from Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr plunged the Mid-East further into chaos.
The torching of the Saudi embassy in Tehran prompted Riyadh to cut diplomatic ties with the Iranians and on Monday, Bahrain quickly followed while the UAE recalled its ambassador.
Now, the stage is set for a full blown sectarian showdown complete with protests by oppressed Shiites in the Gulf states, anti-Sunni sentiment in Iran and Iraq, and, in a worst case scenario, a direct (as opposed to a proxy) conflict between the Saudis and the Iranians.
This morning, the headlines surrounding the turmoil are coming fast and furious and in the latest escalation, the Saudi foreign ministry says the kingdom will now cut all commercial ties with Iran.
SAUDI ARABIA TO CUT OFF IRAN COMMERCIAL TIES, FM SAYS: REUTERS
According to Reuters, all flights to and from Iran will be stopped and Saudi citizens will be banned from traveling to the country.
All commercial ties with Iran being cut off, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel Al-Ahmad Al-Jubeir said, Reuters tweeted. Citizens banned from traveling to Iran Severing of ties comes after years of aggression; Iranian pilgrims welcome in Saudi Arabia, Al-Jubeir said, according to Al-Arabiya tweets of comments on Reuters
Apprently, the Saudis are set to use the embassy fire and the protests at the consulate in Mashhad as an excuse to reapply the "pariah state" label to Tehran just as the lifting of international sanctions was set to usher in a fresh start for relations between the West, its regional allies, and the Iranians.
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
Betting that they have that covered. Or they will soon.
And the ME nukes arms race begins!
There are a number of youtubes of the Saudi regulars fighting Houthi vagabonds with RPGs. The Houthis slap the Saudis pretty hard. The Saudis are rather underwhelming.
If I were Iran, I wouln't take that lying down.
“There are a number of youtubes of the Saudi regulars fighting Houthi vagabonds with RPGs. The Houthis slap the Saudis pretty hard. The Saudis are rather underwhelming.”
Which is why they have to enlist/buy help from the Emirates, Sudanese and Ethiopians. They are even paying Blackwater/XE for Columbian Mercenaries to fight in Yemen for them.
The Saudi’s themselves are paper tigers, but they have a TON of favors to call in.
I suspect the House of Saud will fall before they get nukes... but we’ll see. The Saud’s have plenty of money to buy nukes - they could go that route.
Carthage.
“Columbian Mercenaries”
I didn’t know the Ivy League schools were so big into military activities.
“Just a few more years before they are lobbing nukes at each other. Maybe sooner than later.”
Fully agree. If oil was higher with this degree of enmity going on, they could be lighting them off right now, having bought them from NK or the Pakis.
Is it possible the House of Saud may go the ‘exile’ route...if some nation offered them protection, in exchange for some cash.
They apparently financed Pakistan’s nuclear program with the understanding that they could get nukes from Pakistan. However they seemed to have asked for nukes but were already denied. This was after the US/Iran “deal.” After that, they ordered 1 billion worth of bunker buster bombs from the US. Their best chance now seems to be to strike first before Iran has operational nukes.
Just like Pakistan acted like they were everyone’s friend (to get money and influence) while playing groups against each other - I suspect Pakistan ‘sold’ their bombs to everyone... while ‘keeping them for safe keeping’ in Pakistan. I smell a ‘con job’ done on everyone in the ME. The Saud’s have as much chance getting ‘their’ bomb as marks have getting their money back from some Nigerian ‘prince’...
How do we know that they haven't purchased them already?
For all we know the Pakis sold their bombs to Iran too... maybe they actually delivered one or two... Who could guess? What’s that phrase about trusting some people no further than you can throw them? Hopefully our guys went in and took the bombs from the Pakis years ago... and they only pretended to have them... (to sell and resell and resell). That would be the best outcome. Here’s praying Obama made the rational choice.
I have a hard time believing with Saudi Arabia’s wealth and following the fall of the soviet union, that SA has not ever purchased any nuclear weapons.
"What's the world comin' to?"
The Russians got oil.
In March 2006, the German magazine Cicero reported that Saudi Arabia had, since 2003, received assistance from Pakistan to acquire nuclear missiles and warheads. Satellite photos allegedly reveal an underground city with nuclear silos containing Ghauri rockets in Al-Sulaiyil, south of the capital Riyadh.[9] Pakistan has denied aiding Saudi Arabia in its nuclear ambitions.[10]
Just in case anyone is wondering the ‘Shiite Refugees in the Gulf States’ are rife with Iranian agitators, spies, Republican Guards and Quds advisors. They are Iran’s regional destabilization front.
Anyone remember Lebanon and its Shiite minority circa 1973? They were the infiltration means for Iran’s Hez’bollah and Hamas terrorist groups leading to the so called Lebanese civil war. In reality it was an Iranian-Shia supported insurgency against the pluralist Lebanese government. They won. The Iranian theocracy is running the same game plan against the Gulf states. Militants embedded in “refugee” communities. Unfortunately, some people still believe the 1979 Iranian US embassy takeover was by “university students” -as the MSM claimed at the time.
Good. Bunch of fanatics fights with sponsors of terrorism. Let the battle begin!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.