Posted on 07/07/2018 7:22:25 AM PDT by artichokegrower
Highlights
Facing the imminent reinstatement of U.S. oil sanctions, Iran is threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, which would shut down the region's oil trade. Iran has made this threat before and has never followed through, since actually shutting down the strait would be a drastic and damaging move for the country. The tough rhetoric is more than likely to be followed up by more mild retaliation attempts, such as the harassment of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Monty Python bump.
5.56mm
It’s very narrow near the UAE... all shipping can be stopped by sinking at few ships in the main channel. Iran plans on doing that in the event of war - or threat of war. NOW is the time for Trump to find alternatives...
“The problem is that simply sinking a ship or two in the Strait is enough to block it for some time.”
“On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman. At its narrowest, the strait has a width of 29 nautical miles (54 km).” - Wikipedia
That trick worked for Nasser in 1956 because the Suez Canal is so narrow. Took months to clear out all the ships he sunk in it. Didn’t accomplish anything except anger nations dependent on Suez shipping.
IMO if the mullahs try to sink ships in the Strait, the list of sunken ships will include the Iranian navy. Besides, they’ll just be cutting off their nose to spite their face. The Silk Road isn’t much of a substitute & besides where would they get their fuel?
Iran would be playing with fire. They will have much better luck with proxy wars.
It’s also enough to encourage a visit from USAF and USN Aviation ...
You’re right - inbound and outbound lane are each two NM wide and separated by a two NM buffer. Just the threat that it’s been mined would be enough to stop all traffic.
“We need some real retribution for what Iran did to our sailors under Obola.”
Hope Iran has deep pockets as “interest” still accruing on the 1979 Iranian invasion of sovereign US territory; the US Embassy in Tehran.
If they were to try it would be time to show them Shock And Awe with all these smart weapons we have these days.
“The problem is that simply sinking a ship or two in the Strait is enough to block it for some time.”
The deep water shipping channel is several miles wide. It would take a couple of dozen ships to create a true navigation hazard in those shallow waters.
Besides, Iran would then cease to exist. How do they gain by that?
Close the Strait of Hormuz?
Suicide.
In a couple of years the scummy mullahs will be executed by their population.
Or, they will hightail it outta there.
Things are heating up on the streets of the country as we speak and there is a POTUS that most likely has sent help for them under cover.
These yapping SOB high muzzies are about the most lazy worthless waste of human skin ever.
Very simple...They can’t.
“My understanding is that the navigation channels are sufficiently shallow that this tactic would work.”
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Navigation
To reduce the risk of collision, ships moving through the Strait follow a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS): inbound ships use one lane, outbound ships another, each lane being two miles wide. The lanes are separated by a two-mile-wide “median”.
Alternative shipping routes
In June 2012, Saudi Arabia reopened the Iraq Pipeline through Saudi Arabia (IPSA), which was confiscated from Iraq in 2001 and travels from Iraq across Saudi Arabia to a Red Sea port. It will have a capacity of 1.65 million barrels per day.[41]
In July 2012, the UAE began using the new Habshan–Fujairah oil pipeline from the Habshan fields in Abu Dhabi to the Fujairah oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman, effectively bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. It was constructed by China and will have a maximum capacity of around 2 million barrels per day, over three-fourths of the UAE’s 2012 production rate. The UAE is also increasing Fujairah’s storage and off-loading capacities.[41][42]
In a July 2012 Foreign Policy article, Gal Luft compared Iran and the Strait of Hormuz to the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles, a choke point for shipments of Russian grain a century ago. He indicated that tensions involving the Strait of Hormuz are leading those currently dependent on shipments from the Persian Gulf to find alternative shipping capabilities. He stated that Saudi Arabia was considering building new pipelines to Oman and Yemen, and that Iraq might revive the disused Iraq–Syria pipeline to ship crude to the Mediterranean. Luft stated that reducing Hormuz traffic “presents the West with a new opportunity to augment its current Iran containment strategy.”[41]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Hormuz
You are totally incorrect. Go to google earth and look at the width and water depths. The only way to close the straits is with a superior surface fleet or mines. Iran's surface fleet would be wiped out in hours as would their ability to lay mines. If Iran were a sophisticated military they could close the straits. They do not have this sophisticated military and all their oil also goes through these straits.
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