US says Iran attacks below threshold for wider war in Persian Gulf

Iran International ^ | May 05, 2026 | Staff

[Red Badger]

The United States said Iranian attacks on shipping and forces in the Persian Gulf have so far remained below the level that would trigger a broader conflict, a senior US military official said.

“They’ve attacked US forces more than 10 times, all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point,” said Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He said Iran had also fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships since a ceasefire was announced, adding the actions were part of efforts to disrupt global trade.

Caine said around 22,500 mariners aboard more than 1,550 commercial vessels remain stranded in the Persian Gulf due to the disruption.

He added that Iran’s actions were affecting a key maritime route that handles roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption, with US forces working to secure shipping and maintain freedom of navigation.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: armchairadmirals; armchairgeneralsoffr; habitualcomplainers; habitualcomplaining; iran

[TheThirdRuffian]

Fwiw that’s right what I would say before blowing them off the map.

[bert]

More precisely stated, too many cooks spoil the broth.

The Gulf States must allow the present American and Israeli forces continue to bring about the end of Iran.

And are.

We do not know the precise numbers and involvement, but American forces are operating out of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to implement the opening of the straight.

Since all the various American people, planes, ships and satellites are on going and permanent, the actual cost of the operation is not all that great

[Lockbox]

“Tis But A Scratch”?

[TheThirdRuffian]

Very possibly true.

I note that the UAE bombed Iran’s second largest export terminal the day after the ceasefire took effect in response to a post cease fire attack by Iran. Blew the entire facility up.

News didn’t cover it much, if at all.

Made me curious what is up.

[bert]

That is interesting. I have tried to keep up closely and was not aware the UAE made any offensive action against any Iranian facility.

[TheThirdRuffian]

It was a major attack by someone flying French Mirage jets, which narrows it down to . . . the UAE

https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/uae-mirage-jets-suspected-in-post-ceasefire-strike-on-iranian-refinery-3217720?s=1

It was studiously ignored by MSM, which tells you just how much they lie.

[Racketeer]

Simply end the communication abilities of the IRGC command and its soldiers.

[rod5591]

I can’t understand why the US has abandoned offensive operations in the face of the Iranian attacks. TWZ is reporting Iran has fired cruise missiles at US warships. If we weren’t going to see this war through, why did the US attack Iran to begin with?

https://www.twz.com/news-features/u-s-ah-64-apache-mh-60-seahawk-helicopters-sink-six-iranian-boats

[Red Badger]

Cruise missiles? Really? When and where?

An RPG is not a cruise missile..............

[Paul R.]

I’ve been following those developments too.

Right idea, wrong target.

The Gulf States at this point have the capacity to take out Iran’s refineries’ distillation towers, major refined products storage, and any import terminals.
The reason the Gulf States have that capacity is because the US has so drastically degraded Iran’s air defenses. Plus of course the Gulf States have improved their weaponry available over the years. The Gulf States on their own were not able to stamp out the Houthis, but, their efforts in Yemen were pretty clumsy - granted that the goal was not an easy one — to suppress a civilian population mostly from the air, but do it “nicely”. Big fixed infrastructure in modest quantity is MUCH easier to wipe out.

The reason to hit Iran’s refineries’ distillation towers, major refined products storage, and any import terminals, is simple: Without refined products, Iran cannot function. Oh, there is economic impact, but the real impact is that the country will be in, literally, a physical straightjacket. Not economic, physical. As in virtually nothing can be moved - men, equipment... Iran’s transportation is over 99% powered by refined products.

Also, IMO, Trump may be trying to rewrite the whole Middle East strategy: We weaken Iran, and assist the Gulf States in many ways, but, the Gulf States will ultimately be responsible for the fatal blow or blows, as well as the likely humanitarian and “cleanup” problems in Iran. The one thing the Gulf States need that, due to political problems, the US can’t provide, is boots on the ground for those “cleanup” problems. I’m guessing the Gulf States will have to apply pressure to some of their customers. (Just think of all the poor countries dependent on Gulf States’ oil and gas. Heck, I’ll bet you could drum up 1/4 million Filipinos ready for training to be mercenaries alone, if the pay was decent... There’s China too, but IMO it’s in both our interest and the Gulf States interest to keep China at bay when it comes to defense.)

Up until this point, an argument has been made to NOT hit Iran’s refined product capacity, as that would encourage Iran to attack Gulf States’ oil infrastructure. Well, Iran has already attacked Gulf States’ oil infrastructure at a large scale, repeatedly. The Emiratis in particular have very good reason to be PO’d.

[RetiredArmy]

Certainly couldn’t have been the white flag waving french.

[Paul R.]

See my post 11 below, beginning with “Also...” (3rd paragraph).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/4377758/posts?page=11#11

[bert]

Trump is not trying, he already has

The actual coalition formed is called the Abraham Accords that was established by President Trump’s special envoy Jared Kushner during his first term.

This was followed in more detail by the Negev Summit in which there were additional nations signing on and a broadening of the original purposes.

The result was a large gathering of Mideast nations in solid opposition to Iran. It was the end of the Obama Presidential legacy. The European Union was left by the historical wayside.

Iran found the growing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel totally unacceptable and has Hamas make the attacks on Israel on October 7.

The activity today is to destroy Iran to insure the possibility of all that followed never happens again.

[Paul R.]

There is a big difference between creating alliances and actually having parts of said alliances needed to do their part of the critical work when it is needed, do it. Even alliances that did excellent work a short decade or two ago often fail in this regard, and the problems may exist much deeper than whoever is the present political leadership. The European part of this alliance comes to mind:

N
A
T
O

...Whose physical inability to do some really basic things, recently, has certainly opened my eyes.

Trump has facilitated organization of the Gulf States actors (somewhat - UAE and SA are still not very pleased with each other) and I’d say Trump has now set the stage. Whether we will see positive results is yet to be seen.