Despite the simmering tensions between the US and Iran, the top US Navy commander in the Middle East said on Sunday that Iran’s naval activity in the region has been “cautious” and “respectful.”
The comments came from Vice Adm. Sam Paparo, the head of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain. “We have achieved an uneasy deterrence. That uneasy deterrence is exacerbated by world events and by events along the way,” Papro said at an event hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a UK-based think tank.
“But I have found Iranian activity at sea to be cautious and circumspect and respectful, to not risk unnecessary miscalculation or escalation at sea,” he said. Paparo said he has a “healthy respect” for Iran’s regular navy and the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The US likes to complain about Iranian naval activity in the Persian Gulf and other waters near Iran’s coast. But the US makes plenty of its own provocative maneuvers in the region.
In September, the US sailed an aircraft carrier through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway near Iran’s western coast. The US has moved around military resources in recent months to send messages to Iran, including a group of B-52 bombers that were deployed to the Middle East in November.
The B-52 deployment came after a report said President Trump reviewed options to strike an Iranian nuclear site, raising fears of a possible military confrontation in the final days of his administration. Since the report came out, Iran has been preaching caution to its allies, and Israel has stepped up its provocations in the region. Tensions have been especially high since prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in an apparent Israeli plot on November 27th.
Trump will not start a war. If prudence is the mark of a conservative, Trump has been extremely “conservative” in refusing to change much anything. When troop surges failed, he removed troops. He uses sanctions, because they harm no US troops.
Trump has tried to do a good job, despite not getting aspects of what’s going on. I dont think I’d know better on the whole, but I’d risk a power vacuum by removing troops everywhere. Trump doesnt want to mess up.
His assassination of the Iranian general was an act of war, and also his bombing of Syria.
The Syrian attack was minor. The US was already essentially at war with Syria anyway.
The assassination was stupid, but Trump didn’t retaliate after Iran’s response. I think Trump’s strategy is to appear dangerous and unpredictable. It’s a bluff. He believes he can kill Iran’s leaders without starting a war.
The Syria attack was “minor.”
The assassination of a top general was merely “stupid.”
LOL!!!
Relative to what you’d expect the US to do, yes. Anyone else in office, any of the other major candidates, would have been more aggressive against Assad.
I didn’t say the assassination was “merely stupid.” I was agreeing that it was an act of war. What adjectives would you use?
You have to put things in perspective. Trump runs the evil empire. The empire ruins and kills millions of people while bankrupting the US. That’s what its here for. Trump will not start a war.
“minor” i guess, because the 100ooo 155mm guided shells trump loosed there didn’t fall on you, or yours.
I didn’t say I approved of them. Relative to what you’d expect the US to do after the US feigned belief that Assad used WMD, it was a mild attack.
The artillery barrage wasn’t a response to Assad allegedly gassing his own people, the missile attacks were.
I dunno if I replied to this, but I obviously didnt want the attack. My entire point here is there won’t be a war with Iran, not an expanded one from what already exists.
Why would I be OK with the US killing people? How am I supposed to stop it? People mock all forms of activism. They mock voting too. I’m very clearly against it. I am thankful the US isnt attacking South Carolina.
The moral question in the US is whether or not Arabs have souls. I believe they do.
Soleimani was the Che Guevara of anti-Wahhabism. His murder was a gift to every desert gangster from Erdogan to MBS.
“He uses sanctions, because they harm no US troops.”
He uses sanctions because he wouldn’t know empathy if it bit him on the ass. And he could care less about US troops since he wouldn’t know compassion if it bit him on the ass. He’s a cold hearted billionaire who cares about nothing but himself.
US war criminal troops, especially outside their own borders, deserve no “compassion” anyway
I don’t disagree. But my point was Trump has no compassion and not that the troops are worthy of any compassion.
The only thing we get in the way of politicians, with our system, is pieces of excrement with antisocial personality disorders — either sociopaths like Trump or psychopaths like Obama. None of them have the feelings one would expect in a human being.
Sanctions have been terrible, but he’s not going to start a war. I was not defending sanctions.
I wish some of these politicians would realise that even if they’re willing to do anything to attain their objectives, they could still fail, and if attained their objectives could be quickly lost. It is not worth the costs to commit these evil deeds.
I wasn’t suggesting you were defending sanctions. But it did seem you were suggesting that they were ok instead of war. They ARE war.
They are war, not OK, but Iran isnt going to fight back. And Trump won’t escalate.
Being “respectful” clearly was a mistake by Iran.
“The US likes to complain about Iranian naval activity in the Persian Gulf and other waters near Iran’s coast.”
Or any other country that has the audacity to navigate in their own territorial waters.
Vice Adm. Sam Paparo already has his orders. He’s poking around to see who takes the “first swing”.
“The comments came from Vice Adm. Sam Paparo, the head of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain. “
The USA is not actually based anywhere near the Persian Gulf, is it??? Iran is.