Persian Gulf

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To Keep Eye on Its Oil, Iraq Buys US Drones

Unarmed drones will watch over Persian Gulf

(Newser) - Iraq is looking to America to help it monitor its oil interests—sort of. The country is buying unarmed surveillance drones from the US that will scour Iraq's Persian Gulf waters, which Iran has spoken of blockading in the past and which the majority of Iraq's oil exports...

Iran Threatens Google Over Nameless Gulf

Call it Persian or face 'serious damages,' nation warns

(Newser) - The body of water separating Iran from the Arabian peninsula is nameless on Google Maps, and Iran isn't happy about it. Iran's foreign ministry accuses Google of dropping the name Persian Gulf "as one of the seditionist acts taken as part of the soft war against the...

Iran's New Political Flashpoint: Tiny Gulf Island

Ahmadinejad makes push to claim Abu Musa in Persian Gulf

(Newser) - Add the island of Abu Musa to those lands whose location and politics makes their importance far greater than their size. As the New York Times explains, the island is only four square miles, but it happens to sit in the Persian Gulf, and both Iran and the United Arab...

Admiral: US Poised to &#39;Confront&#39; Iran

 Admiral: Iran Has 
 Suicide Boats 
UPDATED

Admiral: Iran Has Suicide Boats

Mark Fox says Iran threats dangerous, but US Navy has 'very effective' options

(Newser) - Iran has significantly built up its naval arsenal, adding more fast attack boats and some ships that "have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device," US Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters yesterday, according to Reuters . Iran also now has...

Iran Again Flexes Naval Muscles

Ayatollah Khamenei promises war would hurt US interests more

(Newser) - Just a month after the Iranian navy held war games in the Persian Gulf , the more powerful Revolutionary Guard is holding naval maneuvers, too, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, reports the AP . The Guard is directly controlled by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who yesterday pledged to help any...

US Sending 'Mothership' to Gulf for Special Ops

Navy retrofitting warship for commando missions: Washington Post

(Newser) - With the US increasingly relying on targeted special ops instead of large military forces, the Pentagon will send an aging warship to the Gulf region to serve as a "mothership" for Navy SEALs and other special forces fighting Somali pirates, al-Qaeda, and other threats (like maybe this ), reports...

War of Words Escalates Over Iran Sanctions

Lawmakers again threaten to close Strait of Hormuz

(Newser) - Senior Iranian lawmakers stepped up threats today that Islamic Republic warships could block the Persian Gulf's oil tanker traffic after the latest blow by Western leaders seeking to rein in Tehran's nuclear program: A punishing oil embargo by the European Union that sharply raises the economic stakes for...

US Boosting Persian Gulf Forces

America warns Iran that closing Strait of Hormuz would be 'red line'

(Newser) - Some of the US troops who left Iraq last month didn't move very far. As tensions with Iran rise, the US military has been quietly boosting its strength in the Persian Gulf, reports the Los Angeles Times . The move comes as US officials have warned Iran that closing the...

US Rescues Iranians in Gulf (Again)
US Rescues Iranians
in Gulf (Again)

US Rescues Iranians in Gulf (Again)

Coast Guard gets six off distressed fishing boat

(Newser) - The big bad Americans rescued more Iranians at sea today. This time, a US Coast Guard cutter plucked six fishermen off their boat in the Gulf when the engine failed and the vessel began flooding, reports Fox News . The crew hailed the passing US ship with flares and flashlights. It'...

US Navy Rescues Iranian Boat From Pirates

Move comes amid nasty rhetoric from Tehran

(Newser) - A US Navy destroyer rescued an Iranian fishing boat that had been commandeered by suspected pirates just days after Tehran warned the US to keep its warships out of the Gulf. American forces flying off the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd responded to a distress call from the Iranian vessel, the...

Iran's Navy Launches War Games

Warships head into international waters

(Newser) - Saber rattling just in time for the holidays. Iran is launching war games in international waters in the Persian Gulf today. The 10 days of exercises will likely bring warships close to US Navy vessels patrolling beyond the Strait of Hormuz, reports AP. The exercises are intended to display Iran'...

To Thwart Iran, US Plans to Sell Bombs to UAE

Bunker busters would be ideal for, say, taking out a nuclear facility

(Newser) - With the world growing nervous about Iran’s allegedly accelerating nuclear weapons program, the US is drawing up plans to sell thousands of “bunker-buster” bombs to the United Arab Emirates, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, the al Nahyans, is seen as one of...

As US Leaves Iraq, It Eyes a Beefier Gulf Presence

US military looking to increase defense ties with states around region

(Newser) - The United States may be pulling out of Iraq by the end of 2011 , but that doesn't mean it's getting out of the Persian Gulf—in fact, the US military is looking to boost its combat presence in Kuwait and increase its military ties to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,...

Iran: Our Navy Will Patrol Off US East Coast

'Arrogant' US to get a taste of its own medicine, admiral says

(Newser) - American ships patrol close to Iranian coasts, so the Iranians are going to send their own warships to patrol near the waters of one of the world's most "arrogant" powers, vows the head of Iran's navy. Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, speaking at a ceremony marking the anniversary...

Iran: We Shot Down Spy Planes
Iran: We Shot Down
Spy Planes

Iran: We Shot Down Spy Planes

US denies any knowledge of drone downing

(Newser) - Iran officials are boasting that their nation's military shot down two Western spy planes. But no one is claiming the drones. The planes, "capable of taking photographs," were blasted over the Persian Gulf, Iran's air force commander told a local wire service. But a US source says there...

Navy Blasted on Facebook Over Use of 'Arabian Gulf'

It's the 'Persian Gulf,' note messages

(Newser) - The United States Navy, like the Spartan kings of old, is under attack from hordes of pissed-off Persians. The Navy's Facebook page has been bombarded with angry messages in recent days from people complaining that it refers to the waters off the coast of Iran as the Arabian Gulf instead...

US Flexing Muscle in Gulf, Sends Message to Iran

It's beefing up defenses of Arab nations in the region

(Newser) - The US is ramping up military cooperation with Arab states in the Persian Gulf ahead of a possible showdown with Iran. The New York Times and the Washington Post weigh in with essentially the same story, both quoting anonymous administration and military officials. The strategy—which includes placing ships off...

Regime Change in Iran Could Easily Backfire

The current crew is limited by its own incompetence

(Newser) - Iran’s current government leaves much to be desired, but would the installation of a less ideological, more democratic government actually be desirable for the US and its allies? Maybe not, writes Stephen Walt . For example, Mir Mousavi, Ahmadinejad’s jilted rival in the last “election,” agrees with...

Sailors Say Iranian Lockup Wasn't So Bad

British yacht crew says they were scared, but treated well

(Newser) - The five British yachtsmen Iran captured en route to Dubai say they have no complaints about their treatment. The sailors described their ordeal at a news conference today, saying they were held in a “perfectly reasonable room,” where they played chess and darts and were exceedingly well nourished....

Iran Frees 5 Brit Yachtsmen
 Iran Frees 5 Brit Yachtsmen 

Iran Frees 5 Brit Yachtsmen

Revolutionary Guard decides sailors aren't spies

(Newser) - Five British sailors detained when their racing yacht strayed into Iranian waters last week have been released. Officials of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, who had warned the men would be prosecuted if they were found to have "evil intentions," said they determined that the sailors' entry into Iranian waters...

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