A diplomat based in Islamabad said on Sunday that an Israeli attack on Iran would force Pakistan to support a Iranian response, according to the Israeli website Ynetnews.com.

The diplomat did not say if the Pakistani retaliation would be diplomatic or involve a conventional military or nuclear response.

Although estimates of Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile vary, it is believed the Islamic country has between 70 and 90 warheads. In 2000, U.S. military and intelligence sources put the number at 100. In 2007, retired PakistaniBrigadier-General Feroz Khan told a Pakistani newspaper that his country has “about 80 to 120 genuinewarheads.”

Pakistan also has a number of delivery system for its nuclear weapons, including thermonuclear MIRV-equipped medium range ballistic missiles with ranges up to 2500 kilometers. It also has cruise missiles and is believed to be working on tactical nuclear weapons.
In August of 2011, it was reported that theUnited States considers Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal a threat and it has a “snatch-and-grab” plan for a worse case scenario.

Both Russia and China have said that an attack on Iran would be an attack on their national security.

“Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military hardships, this will be a direct threat to our national security,” Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s deputy prime minister and former envoy to NATO, said in mid-January.

“China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third world war,” said Major General Zhang Zhaozhong in December.

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The White House moved to enforce tightened sanctions against Iran on Monday because of the country’s suspect nuclear program, freezing all property of the Central Bank of Iran, other Iranian financial institutions and the Iranian government in the United States.

The new restrictions also raised new warnings to financial institutions in other nations that they could face big penalties in the United States if they did business with Iran’s central bank.

The actions were announced in an executive order signed by President Obama that started the enforcement process for a tough measure he signed into law at the end of 2011. If fully carried out, that measure could isolate Iran’s central bank and effectively choke off the sale of Iranian oil by obstructing the means of payment. Most of the revenue for oil sales by Iran, one of the world’s biggest oil exporters, is processed by its central bank.

Tensions have been rising between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear energy program, which Iran says is peaceful and Western nations say is a cover for efforts to achieve the ability to make a nuclear weapon.

Israeli leaders, who see Iran as their most serious security threat, have hinted they may order a pre-emptive military strike on suspected nuclear targets in Iran if they conclude the sanctions are ineffective. Mr. Obama and his aides have sought to restrain Israel, stressing in recent days that sanctions and diplomatic pressure are the preferred strategy for dissuading Iran.

“There has been a steady increase in our sanctions activity, and this is part of that escalation,” Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said after the latest steps were announced.

Last week an inspection team from the International Atomic Energy Agency left Iran after the government refused to allow it to scrutinize elements of the nuclear program that the agency had said could be military in nature. Although the team is returning to Iran this month, Western diplomats have concluded that Iran appears intent on stonewalling.

In a statement, the White House said the executive order “re-emphasizes this administration’s message to the government of Iran — it will face ever-increasing economic and diplomatic pressure until it addresses the international community’s well-founded and well-documented concerns regarding the nature of its nuclear program.”

The timing, a Treasury Department official said, was driven by the need for the administration to lay the groundwork to effectively enforce the new sanctions law, in part by reaching out to allies and other countries to explain how the sanctions will work. Many of these countries buy oil from Iran through its central bank, and their financial institutions could be blocked from the American market if they continue to do so.

The administration has been trying to persuade Iran’s oil customers to shift to other suppliers, and countries like Saudi Arabia have promised to raise production to compensate for any shortages. But some of Iran’s biggest customers, notably China and India, have signaled their intention to keep buying Iranian oil.

The penalties against Iran’s central bank, and potentially the banks of other nations that do business with it, were unanimously passed by the Senate and attached to an annual defense bill over the administration’s objections. Mr. Obama agreed to the penalties after the White House negotiated language that would give him latitude to waive them for foreign financial institutions.

Documents accompanying the executive order said foreign financial institutions risked American sanctions “if they engage in certain significant financial transactions” with Iran’s central bank rather than “arms-length” transactions.

In a statement, the Treasury Department said the executive order “blocks all property and interests in property of the government of Iran, the Central Bank of Iran and all Iranian financial institutions (regardless of whether the financial institution is part of the government of Iran) that are in the United States, that come within the United States or that come within the possession or control of U.S. persons.” The statement did not further specify the exact properties that apply.

The Senate has proposed additional sanctions that could cripple Iran’s financial system by severing Iranian banks’ access to a global communications system that virtually all banks use to transmit data. A full vote has not yet been taken on that measure.

Advocates of stiff sanctions on Iran welcomed the administration’s announcement on Monday.

“Sanctions against Iran’s central bank, if properly implemented and enforced, will severely isolate the Iranian regime from world markets and limit the capital it has to pursue nuclear weapons and fund terrorism,” said Mark D. Wallace, president of United Against Nuclear Iran, a group in New York.

Iran’s government has denounced the sanctions as an effort to bully Iranians into surrendering their legal right to pursue nuclear energy peacefully. It has threatened to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route, and by cutting off European buyers of Iran’s oil before a planned European Union embargo of Iran’s oil to start on July 1.

Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency said people at an organized rally against the sanctions in Tehran on Monday chanted “Death to America” and “Death to the Zionist regime” and urged Parliament to halt oil exports to European countries.

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Two Iranian naval ships have docked in the Saudi port of Jeddah. Iranian officials say the move aims to project the country’s “power on the open seas” and “confront Iranophobia.”

The supply ship Kharg and destroyer Shaid Qandi docked on Saturday in the Red Sea port in line with orders from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Iran’s news agency, Fars.

“This mission aims to show the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the open seas and to confront Iranophobia,” Fars quoted navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari as saying.

The commander added that the mission would last between 70 and 80 days, but did not specify its route.

Tehran says boosting its naval presence in international waters is in part motivated by the need to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates. This is why Iranian vessels were deployed to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden last year. In February 2011, for the first time ever, it also sent two naval vessels into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.

The rise in Iran’s naval activity comes amid a steep deterioration of its relations with the West. Its ties with Saudi Arabia are also in poor health, and have gone downhill fast since America accused Tehran of masterminding a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

As if that weren’t enough, relations between Tehran and Riyadh deteriorated further after EU countries agreed to impose sanctions on Iran’s oil exports over the country’s nuclear program. In return, Tehran assured the European Union that it is not afraid of its sanctions and that the EU would be the one to suffer. However, Saudi Arabia quickly offered to make up for any shortfall in Europe’s oil supplies. Tehran, in response, called on Riyadh to reconsider, saying its move was unfriendly.

The EU oil embargo has also increased tensions in the Strait of Hormuz – a vital link for oil transit between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.  Iran has threatened to block the Strait in the past, and its determination was underlined when a senior official said Iran would “definitely” close the Strait of Hormuz if the EU oil embargo disrupted the export of crude oil.

The situation around the Strait and the Iranian nuclear program – which the country states is purely peaceful – has already prompted Washington to send squadrons of war ships into the area, while Britain and France have expressed willingness to back the US navy in opposing attempts by Iran to block the Strait.

The Israeli Deputy PM added fuel to the fire, claiming that Iran has also succeeded in building a long-range missile capable of putting the US within its reach. These latest statements are very much in line with the position of Israel and its allies who are accusing Iran of using its nuclear industry to mask plans to develop nuclear arms, a charge official Tehran has frequently and vehemently denied.

The gravity of the crisis became particularly apparent when US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Israel could attack Iran in the next few months. The attack would allegedly occur before it enters a so-called “immunity zone”, ie: before Iran has time to fortify its nuclear facilities against attack.

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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force on Saturday started a series of military exercises in Iran’s Southern regions on Saturday.

Commander of the IRGC Ground Force Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said that the drills, codenamed as Hamiyan-e Vellayat (Supporters of Religious Leadership) are underway in Jahrom general zone, in Iran’s Southern province of Fars.

“The drills are among a series of specialized wargames of the IRGC ground force involving part of the operation units of Madina Headquarters,” Pakpour added.

The commander said the airborne drills are aimed at maintaining and improving the combat preparedness of the IRGC ground forces.

Early in January, the IRGC Ground Force ended a series of military exercises in Iran’s Eastern regions.

The drills, codenamed as Shohaday-e Vahdat (Martyrs of Unity), were carried out in Khaf general zone, East of Iran.

During the main phase of the drills, armored units and commandos of the IRGC attacked positions of the hypothetical enemy in five phases and hit enemy with heavy fire.

A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said that the IRGC has successfully tested its latest home-produced military tools and equipment as well as the capabilities of its armored units during the wargames in Eastern Iran and attained positive results.

The latest achievements in area of armored systems and equipment were successfully tested in the Shohaday-e Vahdat drills, Lieutenant Commander of IRGC Ground Force General Abdollah Araqi announced at the time.

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Former NSA analyst, Jim Stone, argues that there was no mag 9.0 earthquake. The tsunami was caused by nuclear bombs in the sea and the Fukushima explosion and meltdown was caused by mini-nukes hidden in cameras installed by an Israeli security firm. The motive: punish Japan for offering to enrich Iranian uranium and straying from Illuminati diktat. This website reserves judgment but offers this introduction by James Farganne in the spirit of free discussion.

When we compare the  6.8-magnitude earthquake which devastated Kobe, Japan January 17, 1995 with Fukushima, the evidence does not stack up.

A quick Google Images search of Kobe reveals incredible destruction of buildings, bridges, elevated highways, and other infrastructure.

The Fukushima quake, magnitude 9.0, struck about 70 km off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.

It sent a 15-meter tsunami crashing over perfectly undamaged bridges, houses, roads, and cars – over a populace which had not been warned of the incoming tsunami, because there was no mag 9.0 earthquake. They were taken completely off-guard. Yet helicopters were waiting, and people all over Japan got to watch the tsunami roll in on live TV.

What on earth was going on? Ordinarily, the Japanese people are warned of tsunamis. Why weren’t they warned? Why was there no structural damage, no reason for them to suspect that a tsunami was coming?

The quake must have seemed like nothing special to a nation of people who are used to quakes. In a video taken in one Tokyo newsroom during the Fukushima quake, staff were seen to continue typing at their computer stations, totally unfazed by it.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake is more than 100 times stronger than a 6.8. A 9.0 should have devastated everything within a 1,000-km radius. There should have been widespread urban carnage, even worse than what Kobe suffered.

Yet the Fukushima quake of 3/11/11 did not cause a single structure to collapse.

But don’t take my word for it. Go look up the helicopter footage on YouTube.  Look at the infrastructure the tsunami was crashing onto. Not the slightest bit of damage. Common sense is enough to make you wonder.

Jim Stone did more than wonder. He dug up and analyzed the Japanese seismograms. He proved there was no 9.0 quake, and no epicenter out at sea. Instead, there were three simultaneous quakes of much lesser magnitude, all of them inland.

The authorities lied about the 9.0 quake — made it up out of whole cloth. An earthquake did not cause the tsunami. There must have been another cause.

Reactors Destroyed by Nukes

It turns out that the official explanation for the Fukushima reactor explosions was bogus as well. Nuclear power containment walls are extremely thick and strong. Hydrogen explosions could never have destroyed them. As a historical reference, hydrogen explosions occurred at Three Mile Island and caused no structural damage, nor even any injuries to plant personnel.

Furthermore, Reactor Four contained no fuel on 3/11/11, and was therefore nonoperational — yet it exploded and was destroyed as completely as were the other reactors that day. Reactor Four is like Building 7 at the World Trade Center – an utter impossibility, a blatant smoking gun. A reactor containing no fuel cannot operate; a nonoperational reactor cannot explode unless someone explodes it. The destruction of Reactor Four can only have been the result of sabotage.

Israeli Involvement

In February 2010, Japan offered to enrich uranium for Iran. Soon thereafter, an Israeli firm by the name of Magna BSP secured a contract to run security at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. They installed oversized cameras strongly resembling gun-type nuclear weapons. There is strong evidence that they planted Stuxnet, an Israeli computer virus that attacks Siemens power plant control systems, and which Israel previously used to damage Iran’s nuclear program. Magna BSP also established internet data links in the reactor cores, in blatant violation of international nuclear regulations.

All twelve members of that security team returned to Israel in the week before 3/11/11. In the aftermath of the disaster, the Israelis publicly monitored the reactor cores via their illegal internet data links. Yet no one took them to task for this.

Jim Stone Targeted for Revealing Truth

What caused the tsunami? What destroyed the reactors?

Using skills honed as a former NSA analyst with an engineering background, Jim Stone concluded that Israel was behind the destruction of Fukushima Daiichi. Now he is paying the price.

Stone proved that there was no 9.0-magnitude quake to cause the tsunami. The tsunami must have been artificially induced, perhaps by an atomic bomb placed in the Japan Trench.

The tsunami was blamed for flooding the reactors and causing the explosions. But Stone presents compelling evidence that Israel destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant by installing gun-type nuclear weapons in the guise of security cameras, and then setting them off in the tsunami’s aftermath.

Stone demonstrates that the Stuxnet virus continues to distort sensor readings at the disaster site to this day.

Unlike many others in the world of whistle blowers, Stone bases his conclusions on hard evidence and unassailable logic. Anyone can review and challenge his work. He is open to it.

Since releasing his report and making several radio appearances to support it, Jim Stone has been harassed, threatened, unlawfully detained, and is currently facing prison time on completely trumped-up charges.

I have watched the reaction to his work on the net. Some have slandered him. Others have railroaded his work.

No one has debunked him yet.

His conclusions have ramifications that make 9/11 pale in significance.

Why, all across the alternative media, this roaring silence on the work of Jim Stone?

Why haven’t more truth sites simply linked to his report, directing people to review the evidence and decide for themselves?

Some have expressed suspicion that Stone might not be what he claims to be. That’s irrelevant. Facts are facts. The report stands on facts.

If you haven’t done so yet, I urge you to study Jim Stone’s Fukushima report. It is well worth the considerable time and effort. Then, if you agree that his conclusions are correct, please do your part in spreading this information and dispelling the alternative media’s silence on it.

To conclude, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake never happened in Japan on 3/11; the tsunami must have been artificially induced. Nor did hydrogen explosions obliterate containment walls of concrete and rebar several feet thick. The official story is impossible. Israel was punishing Japan, and Zionist operatives now are attempting to destroy Jim Stone, the man who exposed the truth.

–

The original report: www.jimstonefreelance.com/fukushima1.html

Interview with visuals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G9QlynPBcQ

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The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected reports on Friday that it could strike a deal on Iran with the United States in exchange for non-intervention by the West in Syria.

“Nothing could be further from the truth than the assertion that our country may cut a backroom deal, giving the green light to a U.S. military operation against Iran in exchange for Western non-interference in Syria’s internal affairs,” the ministry said in a written commentary posted on its website.

“We leave that to the conscience of their authors.”

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The Navy’s biggest amphibious exercise in a decade, Bold Alligator, is not specifically designed to counter Iranian threats in the Persian Gulf. But it comes awfully close, according to two senior service officials.

The joint Navy and Marine Corps exercise is geared toward honing the services’ amphibious warfare capabilities. Training operations began this week off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, U.S. Fleet Forces Command chief Adm. John Harvey told reporters at breakfast here today. The massive exercise comes as Marines are in the midst of returning to the sea after a decade of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The combat scenarios in Bold Alligator are not tailored to mimic any particular country, Lt. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, head of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command, said at the same breakfast. But a closer look at those scenarios could lead some to conclude otherwise.

Navy and Marine forces involved with the exercise will work scenarios involving mine warfare, countering small boat attacks and other irregular threats and fighting in shallow coastal waters, Harvey pointed out. Those threats, among others, are the hallmarks of Iranian naval forces. Reiterating Hejlik’s comments, Harvey did note the Bold Alligator scenarios were “certainly informed by recent history.” Tehran has been flexing their naval muscles over the past few months as part of an overall show of force in the Straits of Hormuz. That said, “everything we are going to do” during the exercise can be applied to a potential conflict with Iran in the Straits, Harvey said.

Earlier this month, Iran infuriated Western leaders by threatening to shut down the Straits, the main waterway entering into the Persian Gulf. It also began a new round of naval exercises focused on defending the Straits from an attack, according to reports from Tehran. Weeks of diplomatic saber-rattling between Tehran and Washington forced Iran to back off, but not before it banned U.S. Navy warships from entering the Straits. But the Pentagon’s decision to send two carrier strike groups to the region put forces on both sides back on high alert. But the warships were able to sail through the Straits earlier this month without incident.

While the sailors and Marines in Bold Alligator are training for war, service leaders are working hard to make sure the situation does not boil over with Iran. The Navy’s Fifth Fleet, stationed in Bahrain, have established ship to ship communication with their Iranian counterparts, Harvey said. These ties are designed to prevent “the chance of miscalculation” between U.S. and Iranian forces, he said. Despite these links, Harvey admitted that Navy leaders are “not always sure what [they're] dealing with”, in term of Tehran’s unpredictability in the region.

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The United States is not at war with Iran yet, but just in case,the Pentagon says they want to be prepared. To do so, the Department of Defense has dispatched 15,000 troops to the neighboring nation of Kuwait.

Gen. James Mattis, the Marine Corps head that rules over the US Central Command, won approval late last year from the White House to deploy the massive surge to the tiny West Asian country Kuwait, which is separated from Iran by only a narrow span of the Persian Gulf.

The latest deployment, which was ushered in without much presentation to the public, adds a huge number of troops aligned with America’s arsenal that are now surrounding Iran on literally every front. In late 2011, the US equipped neighboring United Arab Emirates with advanced weaponry created to disrupt underground nuclear operations. In adjacent Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, American military presence has long been all but enormous.

While the US has not placed any boots on the ground in Iran, an unauthorized surveillance mission of a US steal drone in December prompted Tehran to become enraged at Washington. US officials insist that Iran is on the verge of a nuclear weaponry program, despite lacking sufficient evidence or confirmation. During the drone mission, Iran authorities intercepted the craft and forced it into a safe landing. Tensions have only worsened between the two nations in the month since, but Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that stealth missions into Iran will continue “absolutely,” despite ongoing opposition from overseas.

In calling for the latest surge to Kuwait, Gen.Mattis said the deployment was necessary to keep Iran in check and keep America prepared for any other threats in the area. It comes only weeks after the last American troops vacated nearby Iraq, where the US still in actuality has an advance presence — the American embassy in Baghdad employs thousands of armed military contractors.

The move to build up military presence in Kuwait comes at a time when the foreign government is at odds to a degree with a US. While protesters in America this week have demonstrated against the ten year anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, the Kuwait government has increased efforts to have two of their own men transferred out of Gitmo and sent back home. Both Fawzi al-Odah and Fayiz al-Kandari have been detained at Guantanamo since 2002, although only one of the two Kuwaiti citizens has ever been charged.

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A disturbing report prepared by the Ministry of Defense circulating in the Kremlin today states that Russian Military Officials were rebuffed by NATO yesterday after questions were raised regarding massive troop and war equipment movements in the United States region of California and said to involve over 78,000 soldiers from various countries.

Reports coming in from the United States verify these extraordinary troop movements are currently underway with videos showing massive amounts of tanks and other war equipment being brought into the California region by train near Santa Cruz [see video HERE] and Morgon Hill [see video HERE] along with reports detailing that areas of Los Angeles were cordoned off this week for secret military exercises.

Important to note, this report says, is that even though Russia had withdrawn in 2007 from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) it was still able to get explanations for the transferring and movement of Western European and American troops from the United Kingdom under a separate agreement, but which was suspended without notice or explanation by the British government this past 25 November 2011.

Concerns over the military movements of the Western Powers, this report continues, are due to the United States and its European allies accounting for nearly three-quarters of the entire amount spent on armed troops and equipment in the entire world and that over the past decade have unleashed wars in various parts of the globe which they show no signs of stopping.

Russian military intelligence analysis of the camouflage pattern indentified on the thousands of military vehicles and tanks flooding into the California region [see both videos linked above] note that it is a variant of the MARPAT woodland pattern designed for use by US Marine Forces intended for use in urban environments located in temperate zones or tropical areas, but most certainly is not one used in any of Americas current war theaters of operation.

Analysis as to why these troops are currently massing in California, this report says, could involve any number of scenarios including: 1.) A planned US-EU invasion of either Mexico or a South American nation. 2.) Preparations to put down large scale rioting erupting in the United States. 3.) Preparations to assist the civilian population in the aftermath of a catastrophe caused by war or natural disaster.

Russian military analysts in this report note that Mexico could be a prime target” for US-European military action as its Drug War which began in 2006 has claimed nearly 48,000 lives and during this pivotal election year is now threatened with disintegration as its drug cartels now have more power than the government.

Another analysis in this report notes the United States growing anger at both oil rich Venezuela and Brazil whose left-leaning governments are becoming increasingly opposed to American-European domination and increasingly siding with China and Iran against the West. Important to note in this scenario are that war concerns in Brazil have increased to the point that many are now calling for Brazilians to begin preparing to crush an expected American invasion.

As to the likelihood that these forces massing in California will be used to put down internal dissent appears to have strong validity due to many experts analysis, including Obama regime backer and billionaire George Soros who this week warned that a violent class-war is about to erupt in the United States and stating, The situation is about as serious and difficult as I’ve experienced in my career.”  Important to note in this scenario is that United Statescrackdown on protesters has become so violent that the international association known as Reporters Without Borders downgraded press freedom in America to 47^th this week, an astounding fall of 27 places for a country that claims it has the most freedom in the world.

To if these troops massing in California are to be used in the event of a catastrophe we had noted in our previous report, Megaquake Warning Issued For US-Mexican Pacific Coast, that there is, indeed, a growing concern among Russian experts this region may be about to experience a devastating earthquake.

In our world today where the Obama regime has called for more of its troops to be deployed to the Philippines to counter China, has ordered 15,000 more of its troops to Kuwait in preparation for a war with an Iranian nation that is itself “preparing for Armageddon,” these strange and massive troop movements in California do raise a number of concerns, but which without the American people themselves demanding to know what is going on will, as always, leave these poor souls at the mercy of the tyrants who rule over them.

And to how truly barbaric the United States has become, one need look no further than Tariq Aziz, a 16-year-old Pakistani boy who offered to collect information on US drone strikes killing innocent civilians if it would help protect his family, but within 72 hours of making his offer was assassinated by the Americans along with his 12-year-old brother when the car he was travelling in was blown up by a missile fired by a drone.

If even children are now considered enemies by the new god” Obama who now rules completely over Battlefield Earth,” one must surely ask themselves what chances anyone has anymore…May the Lord have mercy upon us all.

January 26, 2012 © EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com.

Tensions in the Gulf could reach a breaking point as a senior Iranian official said Iran would “definitely” close the Strait of Hormuz if an EU oil embargo disrupted the export of crude oil, the semi-official Fars news agency reports.

The announcement came in response to a decision by the European Union on Monday to impose an oil embargo on Iran over the country’s alleged nuclear weapons program.

“The pressure of sanctions is designed to try and make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

However, with Washington’s decision to deploy a second carrier strike group in the Gulf, the EU’s attempt to pressure Iran economically could greatly increase the likelihood of all-out war in the region.

The Strait of Hormuz is the vital link between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

It is also one of the most strategic chokepoints in the world when it comes to oil transit.

With world oil output estimated at some 88 million barrels per day in 2011, the US Energy Information Administration estimated that some 17 million of those barrels passed through the Strait.

If economic sanctions sufficiently pressure Iran to retaliate by closing down the Strait, nearly 20 per cent of worldwide oil trade would be impacted, resulting in a massive spike in global energy costs.

With over half a million regular forces and an additional 120,000 personnel in the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard,  analysts believe the consequences of a US-led war against Iran would dwarf recent Western-backed military incursions the Middle East.

Thus far, the US decision to maintain two carrier strike groups in the region has been described as “a routine activity”by Iran.

But the vast US military buildup in the region, which was bolstered when the Pentagon dispatched an additional 15,000 troops to the neighboring nation of Kuwait, was only the latest step in an obvious attempt by Washington to strengthen its military capabilities in the region.

However since 1988, when the United States managed to destroy some 25 per cent of Iran’s larger naval capability during Operation Praying Mantis, Iran has spent the last two decades preparing its Revolutionary Guard naval forces to exploit the vulnerabilities of the United States’ larger conventional forces.

According to Revolutionary Guard commander Brigadier General Jafaari, ”The enemy is far more advanced technologically than we are, we have been using what is called asymmetric warfare methods… our forces are now well prepared for it,” he said, as cited by Global Bearings.

Ultimately,  the latest round of brinkmanship between Iran and the West may force Iran to the negotiating table over its uranium enrichment program.

However, the EU strategy of averting “chaos in the Middle East” by tightening the economic noose around Iran could spark the very conflagration it was ostensibly trying to avert.

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