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FoxNews.com Published February 08, 2014
A senior Iranian naval commander says his country has sent several warships to the Atlantic Ocean, close to U.S. maritime borders for the first time. The commander of Iran's Northern Navy Fleet, Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad, is quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying Saturday that the vessels have already begun the journey to the Atlantic Ocean via waters near South Africa.
"Iran's military fleet is approaching the United States' maritime borders, and this move has a message," Haddad reportedly said, according to Fars, a semi-official Iranian news agency.
Iranian officials said last month that the fleet consisted of the destroyer Sabalan and the logistic helicopter carrier Khark, which will be on a three-month mission. The ships are carrying some 30 navy academy cadets for training along with their regular crews.
Haddad says the fleet is approaching U.S. maritime borders for the first time. The Islamic Republic considers the move as a response to U.S. naval deployments near its own coastlines. The U.S. Navy's 5th fleet is based in nearby Bahrain -- across the gulf from Iran.
Iran has regularly deployed warships to the Gulf of Aden off the eastern coast of Africa to fight privacy and protect commercial ships. It has also sent its warships to Syrian waters in recent years.
In 2012, Iran said it aims to put warships in international waters off the U.S. coast within the next few years, and extend its reach as far as Antarctica.
Iran has a history of its crazy war ambitions with the US. I think that they should not be placing warships around the international waters. It only creates further tension, and Iran wants to be a world player, then maybe they should fix their economy first. The Middle East conflicts are very concerning as they also involve Europe, and the U.S., but it is very hard to get them to stop what they are doing when yet we can do it ourselves too. Diplomats and foreign visits might create desired results, if not, then we should address the underlying issues.
Fixing their economy before placing warships in international waters is definitely a good idea, it's hard to be a world power if your economy isn't stable.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Iran here is trying to be that world power through its military involvement, and not so much its people.
ReplyDeleteHowever, (and I'm not by any means advocating warmongering) war can be an excellent way to boost an economy. Just take our economy before and after both world wars. It essentially pumps money into the economy where money wasn't moving before. It creates jobs and boosts the demand for a wide array of resources. Now, countries in which manufacturing takes place and countries (or corporations) in which these resources are gathered and distributed tend to be the primary beneficiaries. For war to do Iran's economy any good, they would need to denationalize manufacturing and make sure that they weren't outsourcing their manufacturers.
ReplyDeleteAll of that being said, though, it certainly doesn't help your economy to have everything you hold dear blown up. Economically speaking, death decreases demand (once again, I understand how utterly heartless that last sentence seems -- I am not advocating war). Iran can't pump money into privatized Iranian manufacturers if the factories are nothing but a pile of rubble and steel. I feel fairly confident that if Iran was to pursue war with the United States, it would lose quickly and totally. This would, once again, be much more detrimental to their economy than the increase in demand would be.