The much-vaunted “largest ever” naval exercise in the Persian Gulf, with 30-some-odd nations taking part in an anti-mining exercise off the Iranian coast, officially began today with an add toward ratcheting up tensions at a time when Israel is openly demanding war.
The deployment is designed to prove that the combined navies could perform anti-mining operations on a massive scale, even though no mines are currently deployed in the region, and Iran would only conceivably do so in retaliation for an attack on them.
Which only adds to the speculation that such an attack in coming, or at least being planning. Israel has insisted that war must take place within the next six months, but had previously been reported to be considering a unilateral attack before the US presidential election in early November.
Officials opened the new exercise with talks of security, interspersed with comments about what a major threat Iran is becoming, though officially the exercise is not directed at any nation.
