Friday, July 11, 2025
  • About us
    • Write for us
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
  • RSS Feeds
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
DefenceTalk
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
DefenceTalk
No Result
View All Result
Home Defence & Military News Defense Geopolitics News Analysis & Opinion

Iran And US Between The Logic Of Sanctions And The Logic Of War

by Editor
January 29, 2007
in Analysis & Opinion
3 min read
0
14
VIEWS

,

Moscow: “The Middle East isn't a region to be dominated by Iran. The Gulf isn't a body of water to be controlled by Iran. That's why we've seen the United States station two carrier battle groups in the region,” Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, said in an address to the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, an influential think-tank, when commenting on the decision of President George W. Bush to send a second U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf.

He emphasized that the U.S. is striving for stability in the region and unimpeded oil and gas deliveries in the interests of all other countries.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on the LCI television channel that the international community's demands that Iran stop its dangerous activities in the nuclear sphere were based on the logic of sanctions rather than the logic of war.

However, the situation around Iran has apparently turned towards the logic of war, contrary to the will of the international community, if there is such a thing.

A new U.S. carrier battle group has been dispatched to the Gulf.

USS John C. Stennis, with a crew of 3,200 and around 80 fixed-wing aircraft, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers, eight support ships and four nuclear submarines are heading for the Gulf, where a similar group led by USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has been deployed since December 2006.

The U.S. is also sending Patriot anti-missile systems to the region.

The above is Washington's reply to the question: What will happen if Iran drives the U.S. into a corner? Or was it the other way round?

It was believed that if Iran refused to stop its nuclear program, the U.S. as its main adversary would ensure the adoption of international sanctions and later start a military operation against Iran. The scenarios of their engagement were described as catastrophic, with Iran erasing the oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf, blockading the Strait of Hormuz by sinking several oil tankers in it, and starting a war against Iraq, pulling the U.S. deeper into the quagmire. The inevitable conclusion was that a U.S. military operation against Iran would be suicidal, and Washington would never approve it.

So, the “what will happen if?” question has been answered. Now the world wants to know if Washington will be able to avoid a war against Iran.

Tehran is not going to abandon its nuclear program. Moreover, it has said several times that a uranium enrichment system comprising 3,000 centrifuges will be put into operation by the Iranian New Year, which is marked on March 21. From that, there is only one step towards building a nuclear bomb, given the political will, as Washington likes to point out.

If Iran reaches the industrial level of uranium enrichment, Washington will either have to swallow the humiliation, or will start a military operation against Iran. Russian expert Alexei Arbatov said the U.S. usually has to choose between two evils, one greater than the other. In this case, the greater evil will be the creation of a nuclear bomb in Iran. Therefore, if Washington refuses to speak directly with Tehran, it will most likely choose war.

In fact, the United States has already started preparations.

The Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, where Nick Burns made the above statement, has published a special report saying that Iran's nuclear ambitions will inevitably provoke a regional confrontation. Tehran must be aware that if the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is forced to choose between allowing Iran to build a nuclear bomb and letting the U.S. deliver a strike against Iran, it will choose the latter.

The Gulf Research Center is a think-tank of the defense departments of the GCC oil-producing member states (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar). Jordan and Egypt have likewise approved Bush's new strategy in the Middle East.

In short, Washington has rallied sufficient support in the region.

The global media are writing that the plan of a potential U.S. strike at Iran has been worked out in detail, with the strike to be delivered by the end of April.

Pentagon chief Robert Gates, who advocated a “diplomatic engagement” with Iran several years ago, has said Tehran should know that the U.S., although “tied down in Iraq,” remains a dangerous adversary.

He denied that his recent decision to deploy Patriot missiles and a second aircraft carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf was meant as a threat to Iran. “We need some leverage, it seems to me, before we [diplomatically] engage with the Iranians,” he added.

Is the second carrier group the “leverage” Gates was referring to?

Previous Post

Airborne Laser returns for more testing

Next Post

Taiwan Raps China Over Missile Arsenal

Related Posts

Mils & Minutes: The Basics of Ballistic Adjustments

Mils & Minutes: The Basics of Ballistic Adjustments

August 20, 2015

What goes up, must come down. Gravity is the universal force of attraction that affects anything having mass. Without taking...

Air Force Officials Unveil Acquisition Improvement Plan

F-15E: The Eagle Soars Even Higher

August 15, 2015

The McDonnell Douglas (currently Boeing) F-15E, otherwise known as the Strike Eagle, is an all-weather, twin-engine, tandem-seat jet fighter. As...

Next Post

Taiwan Raps China Over Missile Arsenal

Latest Defense News

Britain, Germany jointly developing missiles: ministers

Britain, Germany jointly developing missiles: ministers

May 17, 2025
Trump announces ‘full and immediate’ India-Pakistan ceasefire

Trump announces ‘full and immediate’ India-Pakistan ceasefire

May 10, 2025
Pakistan says Indian missiles strike air bases as conflict spirals

Pakistan says Indian missiles strike air bases as conflict spirals

May 10, 2025
J-10C fighter jet

Pakistan says India has brought neighbours ‘closer to major conflict’

May 9, 2025
North Korea fires multiple suspected cruise missiles

North Korea fires flurry of short-range ballistic missiles

May 9, 2025
China says ‘closely watching’ Ukraine situation after Russian attack

China vows to stand with Russia in face of ‘hegemonic bullying’

May 9, 2025

Defense Forum Discussions

  • Military Aviation News and Discussion
  • The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread
  • Russia - General Discussion.
  • Russian Navy Discussions and Updates
  • Germany
  • Indonesia: 'green water navy'
  • General Naval News
  • Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0
  • General Aviation Thread
  • US Navy News and updates
DefenceTalk

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com

Navigate Site

  • Defence Forum
  • Military Photos
  • RSS Feeds
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com