US - Iran Flare Up

[Sulla84]

Only in your head. The Taliban problem is similar to your own Kashmiri problem - a few religious cucks pooing everywhere

So funny... Whole swathes in eastern Afghanistan have been under Taliban control for years. Neither NATO nor Afghan government forces dare to tread in those areas. Between, there are zero areas in Kashmir which are held by terrorists. (Although I credit the U.S. for stopping the Taliban from capturing any urban centre. But then, the US will now ease the Taliban to a position of power in Kabul itself)

UK has only 6 destroyers and 13 frigates. Not sure how many among them are available, and the UK thought that they could hijack an Iranian tanker while continuing to protect their shipping in Iran's neighborhood. Now their helplessness is there for everyone to see.
Trump's cardinal sin is that he has substituted bluff and bluster, for real military action. It worked for a while, but ultimately nations saw through it. The west and the US in particular have been so averse to mass military casualties, that it is beginning to cripple them, to a point that Trump is running around like a headless chicken. Now, Erdogan has threatened to launch an attack on America's new Kurdish pets in Northern Syria, if Trump proceeds with crippling sanctions on Turkey. In effect he is threatening to kill American soldiers if US proceeds with crippling sanctions. In case you were wondering why Trump has not sanctioned turkey yet after the high profile arrival of S-400 batteries, now you can see why..

 

[Sulla84]

Interesting article
Iran outmaneuvers the UK in Gulf tanker conflict -analysis

 

[BlackOpsIndia]

does your hypocrisy only apply to NATO?

My hypocrisy? I was just examining your pompous claim of winning because of being powerful and what not.

Your track record in spreading democracy is so Epic that current President of US too mocked it, fought on it and won, so even your and US public knows very well about fraud.

Nothing is being stolen, we'll just prevent them from accessing it until they return the property they stole. What they've done is akin to leaving your car at someone's house and stealing their bicycle. It's a dumb move that only a stupid-bearded lunatic would make

So Iranian property and assets in UK are stupid thing and is like leaving their car at someone else house right? That's why they can't steal a bicycle (tanker) of UK.

As per this logic all British assets in colonial countries should be frozen as genius Britishers left their car and stole whole country.

Please atleast give one reply that is not fking up your own case or argument, or is it too much to expect?

 

[BMD]

My hypocrisy? I was just examining your pompous claim of winning because of being powerful and what not.

Your track record in spreading democracy is so Epic that current President of US too mocked it, fought on it and won, so even your and US public knows very well about fraud.


So Iranian property and assets in UK are stupid thing and is like leaving their car at someone else house right? That's why they can't steal a bicycle (tanker) of UK.

As per this logic all British assets in colonial countries should be frozen as genius Britishers left their car and stole whole country.

Please atleast give one reply that is not fking up your own case or argument, or is it too much to expect?

Well, the first step to democracy is getting rid of the dictatorship.

No what they did was put tens of billions of assets in the UK and US and then steal our bicycle. Ayatollah smarts.

Your chronology is wrong.

 

[BMD]

So funny... Whole swathes in eastern Afghanistan have been under Taliban control for years.

And part of my toilet is under the control of Toilet Duck. Who cares?

UK has only 6 destroyers and 13 frigates. Not sure how many among them are available, and the UK thought that they could hijack an Iranian tanker while continuing to protect their shipping in Iran's neighborhood. Now their helplessness is there for everyone to see.
Trump's cardinal sin is that he has substituted bluff and bluster, for real military action. It worked for a while, but ultimately nations saw through it. The west and the US in particular have been so averse to mass military casualties, that it is beginning to cripple them, to a point that Trump is running around like a headless chicken. Now, Erdogan has threatened to launch an attack on America's new Kurdish pets in Northern Syria, if Trump proceeds with crippling sanctions on Turkey. In effect he is threatening to kill American soldiers if US proceeds with crippling sanctions. In case you were wondering why Trump has not sanctioned turkey yet after the high profile arrival of S-400 batteries, now you can see why..

Yeah, and they're armed with 8 anti-ship missiles each and two helicopters, which carry 4 anti-ship missiles each.

And now we're on to Admiral Akbar. Trump has kicked Turkey out of the F-35 program.

 

[BMD]

To be honest, this is the best way to handle the situation until the deal is renegotiated or more diplomatic heads prevail. Push more escort ships into the gulf to shoo away the Iranians and coordinate more with allies in the region.

Deny Iran its economy and wish their citizens the best of luck eating missiles and enriched uranium. Eventually they will have to come back to the table.

Yep, there is no need to play rough, we can just remove their TV privileges until they see sense. Stick some Royal Marines on oil tankers with Starstreaks and Javelins too.

Indeed. Iran is trying to be North Korea, which is a move to get poorer and they will succeed.

 

[Sulla84]

Trump has kicked Turkey out of the F-35 program.

That was a given... People hope for much stronger action than that after all the threats from US

 

[_Anonymous_]

Well, the first step to democracy is getting rid of the dictatorship.

No what they did was put tens of billions of assets in the UK and US and then steal our bicycle. Ayatollah smarts.

Your chronology is wrong.

Those assets were frozen way back immediately after the Shah was deposed followed by the hostages crisis. The remaining was frozen over a period of time. There's nothing left to freeze, Paddy. Hence the US is resorting to sanctions. Basically, all those years of isolation has insulated Iran from the vagaries of global trade. The last few years India imported Iranian oil, we had a barter system in place to pay for most of their oil. The remaining payment was in Euros. I forget the quantum but it was less than 30% if memory serves me right.

 

[BMD]

Those assets were frozen way back immediately after the Shah was deposed followed by the hostages crisis. The remaining was frozen over a period of time. There's nothing left to freeze, Paddy. Hence the US is resorting to sanctions. Basically, all those years of isolation has insulated Iran from the vagaries of global trade. The last few years India imported Iranian oil, we had a barter system in place to pay for most of their oil. The remaining payment was in Euros. I forget the quantum but it was less than 30% if memory serves me right.

The assets weren't frozen and they're still permitted to use the banking system for transactions and their shipping routes haven't been frozen yet.

 

[_Anonymous_]

The assets weren't frozen and they're still permitted to use the banking system for transactions and their shipping routes haven't been frozen yet.

Those assets were very much frozen. You're right about the banking system though I suspect this ban was revoked when the US Iran deal was reached. That can be subject to sanctions once more. Finally, in order that you "ban" shipping routes ( you can't ban them in the first place) you'd have to declare a quarantine. No ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.

I'd love to see them formerly "Great" Britain impose a quarantine with or without NATO.

 

[BMD]

Those assets were very much frozen. You're right about the banking system though I suspect this ban was revoked when the US Iran deal was reached. That can be subject to sanctions once more. Finally, in order that you "ban" shipping routes ( you can't ban them in the first place) you'd have to declare a quarantine. No ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.

I'd love to see them formerly "Great" Britain impose a quarantine with or without NATO.

With NATO it would be very easy. Don't forget the US quarantined Cuba against the entire Soviet Union.

 

[_Anonymous_]

With NATO it would be very easy. Don't forget the US quarantined Cuba against the entire Soviet Union.

I can see why you're nostalgic for the Raj now and make such a good apologist.

 

[BMD]

I can see why you're nostalgic for the Raj now and make such a good apologist.

If you can blockade Cuba against the USSR, you can blockade Iran.

And I see you popped back into 'complain about colonialism' mode again. That's a tactic you learnt from BLM in the US. Lose an argument --> complain about slavery.

 

[_Anonymous_]

If you can blockade Cuba against the USSR, you can blockade Iran.

And I see you popped back into 'complain about colonialism' mode again. That's a tactic you learnt from BLM in the US. Lose an argument --> complain about slavery.

I'm actually waiting for the UK to quarantine Iran, with or without NATO. Let's leave it at that. Meanwhile, you can continue with delusions of grandeur. Of course, being Irish you can claim plausible deniability later like how most murder suspects claim temporary insanity.

 

[BMD]

I'm actually waiting for the UK to quarantine Iran, with or without NATO. Let's leave it at that. Meanwhile, you can continue with delusions of grandeur. Of course, being Irish you can claim plausible deniability later like how most murder suspects claim temporary insanity.

Whereas, in your case, the insanity is permanent.

Here are your countrymen:

Iran releases images of tanker captives

It comes amid reports that ministers are considering freezing Iranian assets.

Crew members on the British-flagged vessel are Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino

The tanker was seized by Iran in the Gulf on Friday

 

[A Person]

Wow I'm really impressed by the quality of this NATO response.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1153261043524788224

If this doesn't tell you about the strength of the "special relationship" and the intra-NATO solidarity that exists between Uncle Sam who says "hey, slave, go annoy the Iranians for me" and Britannia who replies "at once, master, slurp", and Uncle Sam who then says "but you deal with the consequences, I don't care what happens to you"... It's so beautiful. Brings a tear to my eyes.

 

[Fafnir]

With NATO it would be very easy. Don't forget the US quarantined Cuba against the entire Soviet Union.

With the US it's easy, but NATO doesn't have a lot of deployable firepower. What it does have is largely tied up in regional deployments. NATO is very top heavy with the US, UK, Italy, Turkey and France providing the bulk of deployable assets. Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada have sizable navies, but their deployable ships are already assigned to regional forces like the Standing NATO Maritime Groups 1 and 2.

Norway for instance is down one frigate without a foreseeable replacement. Apart from submarines, these are the only maritime assets the country has to deploy overseas. Most of NATO's countries either don't want to get involved (France, Turkey, Spain) or don't have anything of substance/capability to contribute (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Iceland, Portugal).

Wow I'm really impressed by the quality of this NATO response.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1153261043524788224

If this doesn't tell you about the strength of the "special relationship" and the intra-NATO solidarity that exists between Uncle Sam who says "hey, slave, go annoy the Iranians for me" and Britannia who replies "at once, master, slurp", and Uncle Sam who then says "but you deal with the consequences, I don't care what happens to you"... It's so beautiful. Brings a tear to my eyes.

Nothing to do with NATO or else Turkey, France, Italy and the rest of NATO would be on the hook for not helping too.

American maritime laws forbid US combatant craft from escorting foreign flagged vessels without a mandate from congress. This is governed both by the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 and more recent amendments like the Jones Act. The only exceptions to this rule are UN authorized missions like their contributions to Operation Ocean Shield and Operation Atlanta as part of Combined Task Forces 150 and 151, in which the US Navy and Coast Guard provided escort to vessels threatened by piracy.

 

[A Person]

Nothing to do with NATO

Yeah, that's actually pretty much my point.

NATO is about protecting the member countries' territories in Europe and North America. Nothing more. When Argentina tried to take over the Falklands, there was no NATO action because NATO isn't about protecting overseas territories in the South Atlantic. And when Iran seizes a British tanker -- in reprisal for the UK seizing a British tanker -- there's no NATO action because NATO isn't about protecting merchant ships in the Persian Gulf.

The idea that there will be a NATO blockade of Iran is just completely delusional for this reason, but this doesn't stop some people from believing in it.

Here the example of the USA is particularly salient because, primo, NATO exists as an extension of the USA, so if you don't have the USA with you, you won't have NATO with you; and secundo because the USA are the country that threw the JCPOA to the trash in the first place and ordered Britain to seize that Iranian tanker in the first place. That they then refuse to help is the wonderful, wonderful cherry on top.

And yes, of course the Americans have a sound legal reason to refuse to help, it's how they always are. Nation of lawyers, always a good excuse.
Nevermind that Pompeo could have said he'd seek to get a mandate from congress to provide assistance to the UK. But why bother? It's not like the UK will cease being the diligent, obedient little slaves they are to Uncle Sam.

 

[BMD]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...aval-mission-to-protect-ships-in-persian-gulf

Europeans Plan Naval Mission to Protect Ships in Persian Gulf

Hopefully Iran will try land another helicopter on a ship and get a 5in shell through the windscreen.

 

[BMD]

Trump Says US Bracing for 'Absolute Worst' With Iran

Trump Says US Bracing for 'Absolute Worst' With Iran

The U.S. president’s comments came hours after Iran did its part to further stoke tensions with the West, announcing it had captured 17 U.S. spies and sentenced some of them to death.

I can see an airstrike coming shortly.