Iran won't be allowed to block Gulf shipping-US Navy

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

DUBAI, June 30 (Reuters) - The United States and its allies will not allow Iran to hamper shipping in the Gulf, the waterway that carries crude from the world's largest oil exporting region to the world, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said on Monday.

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in remarks published on Saturday that Tehran would impose controls on shipping in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz if Iran was attacked.

"They will not be allowed to close it (the strait)," Vice-Admiral Kevin Cosgriff told a media briefing in Bahrain, according to a Fifth Fleet spokesman.

Cosgriff, the commander of the Bahrain-based fleet, was speaking about an "interest shared with international community to keep that vital waterway free for shipping", the spokesman said.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30398958.htm

[truebrit71]

1. Gulf of Tonkin anyone?

...

[sarcasmo]

29. Exactly, then can you say, 8-10 dollars a gallon.

[Overseas]

38. That was my thought too-- Look out for the $500 million covert ops cashflow

Been there, done that folks. Don't let these bogus war drums delude us again.

[thewiseguy]

2. It would not be too difficult to close it

Allowed or not allowed.

[coalition_unwilling]

39. To paraphrase (loosely) English philosopher John Locke: possession

is 9/10 of the law. Good luck trying to prevent Iran from shutting down the Straits of Hormuz if it chooses to do so.

[msongs]

3. the warmongers bang the drums when they oughta just shut up or as T Roosevelt said..

speak softly and carry a big stick. well we have the big stick, now we need some bozos who can speak softly.

Msongs

[Kolesar]

27. You bet. This is sabre-rattling.

And it's not the "US Navy" talking, it's the neoconservative government.

[SpikeTss]

4. Makes me wonder why we are allowed to ship our fascist weapons of mass destruction into this region

I mean, we don't live in this region, do we?

[Mudoria]

6. You said fascist!

:rofl:

[SpikeTss]

7. It's funny for you ...

until the day comes when they put you on the list.

Have a look at this short speech of Naomi Wolf:

"The End Of America"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc

or read something by Vidal Gore, a man who spent his youth in a century determined by the destructive actions of worldwide fascist movements:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1124-04.htm

[damntexdem]

21. If Iran is able to strike effectively, those carriers could be its hostages.

It's a big if; but those carriers, and thousands of sailors, are at risk in a very-constrained water way.

[Pavulon]

22. Strategic Nuclear Asset.

Iran will not want to do that. Nor will they be given the chance.

[coalition_unwilling]

40. Not to mention 150,000+ US soldiers in Iraq, subject to having

ground supply lines from Kuwait shut off by Shi'ia in southern Iraq.

[Spouting Horn]

26. International waters

The US Navy has been protecting shipping from pirates since the days of Barbary.

We have the right to prevent the Iranians from attacking or disrupting international shipping.

[SergeyDovlatov]

28. Is it the same right that allows us to blockade Iran?

[PDJane]

5. Since when did international waters

become subject to a game of "Mother, May I?"

[Arctic Dave]

9. The Straits of Hormuz is not international waters.

Never has been.

[PDJane]

12. I am sorry, I sits corrected.

However, it isn't American waters either.....and that kind of reinforces the point.

[Arctic Dave]

19. Yes I know. But it is some what bizarre the way we think we

own the world.

[sarcasmo]

30. Our Regime thinks it owns the World, not we.

[TaffyMoon]

34. thank you for the clarification.

[TaffyMoon]

35. Why don't you just take your little boats home and float them

in your marble bathtubs?

[happyslug]

31. Straits of Hormuz has ALWAYS BEEN INTERNATIONAL WATERS

Prior to 1973 National Water was limited to 3 miles, the Straits themselves are 21 miles across, thus you have 15 miles of International Waters under the old Law of the Sea Concepts (The Three mile limit was developed in the 1700s, for that was the limit of a Cannon when black-powder was the propulsion elements, Smokeless powder of the late 1800s extended the range of Cannons, but the law of the Sea did not change till the the mid 1900s).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocent_passage
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part2.htm

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that replaced the old Law of the Sea concepts, nations were permitted to claim a 12 mile Territorial limit (The US has made this claim since 1945) but subject to traditional rights of "Innocent Passage". Under the old Law of the Sea the 15 miles between Iranian and Omanian Territorial waters was a 15 miles gap of International Waters. Under the Convention Territorial sea was extended to 12 miles, which included all of Hormuz Straits, but the Convention included the right of "Innocent Passage", which included passage of long practice, such as going through the Straits of Hormuz.

Thus the Straits of Hormuz is treated as International Water as far as tankers and other ships (Including warships) are concerned, any minerals belong to Iran or Oman (The dividing line is the half way point between the land of both countries or another line if both sides agree).

[L0oniX]

8. Gee I guess our military has enough gas. I wonder just how much it consumes?

I wonder what effect it would have on gas prices if the military were to be shut down? IMO we would make a lot more friends and have cheaper gas if we would quit behaving like we have the right to be the world police. They care more about war than they care about our own economy and people. Our Dem congress people keep giving more money to the Bush crime family for war. Traitors ...we voted you in so you could impeach Bush and Cheney and stop the war ....and you know it. Scum bags! Welcome to my anti-incumbent Dem vote revenge tactic.

:evilfrown:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

33. The US DoD is the largest consumer of energy in the world.

1100 trillion Btu a year.

400,000 barrels of oil a day.

[Imagevision]

10. Iran would impose controls on shipping in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz if Iran was attacked.

headline is misleading. If Iran is attacked by the US.? what do you expect them to do?

[dipsydoodle]

15. what do you expect them to do?

Sink a few biggies and blame Israel :shrug:

[Hydra]

11. "We control the situation in it's entirety"

But Iran is the big, bad menace. We have a duty to stomp it into the ground.

:sigh:

Why do I bother? The US laws are a sham, international law does not apply to superpowers, and nobody cares about who we kill, as long as it isn't them.

I think I need to go be a video game fanboy, as another DUer suggested. Cassandraism is not appreciated.

[daleo]

13. 1) Israel attacks Iran

2) Iran retaliates by blocking Strait of Hormuz.
3) U.S. joins in to open up the Strait.
4) Then who knows who joins the party? - China, Russia, India, etc.

[dreyer]

14. small person big delusion

The monkey in the white house has a case of being such a small person his whole life he has had to use other people's accomplishments and assets to give himself the delusion of amounting to anything. Of course 40% of the Americans (with 10% worth of cheating) were dumb enough to not see through it from the beginning (15% still are (or in denial)). With the money gone, the only asset left to not be completely ignored (the failure monkey's biggest, and soon to be coming, except for the prison gaurds, fear) is the US armed forces, but that is a exhaustible delusion also, hopefully (because congress is to inept to impeach him) we can survive six more months.

[DCKit]

16. I heard the Iranians are trying to keep us from landing on the moon too.

And they're behind "Teh War on Christmas" as well as the whole "New Coke" debacle.

Those bastids.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. and the map tells us a lot

One of the 4 Islands off Dubai is a US airfield...

[blues90]

18. I can't think about it any longer

I am a grain of sand on this planet, a spec of breathing dust.

So far we have had close to 8 years of hell on earth and it never ends.

I can't even think about what the result will be if these freaks attack Iran let alone the guilt many people who really do care and can do nothing to stop this will feel.

All I know at this point is everything feels like some sick macabre of a joke and there is always some issue to worry about and this kills people.

I feel guilty and I had nothing to do with bush getting in and I never supported any war ever. I don't look at war history of hang a flag because I feel all wars can be avoided and they are nothing other than mass murder between people under other circumstances may very well have been the best of friends.

This is absolutely nothing to be proud of or celebrate ever. All the death , we should get down on our knees and hang our heads in shame.

[damntexdem]

20. Technically, Iran would have the right to do so ...

with regard to the shipping lanes that pass through its territory in the Straights of Hormuz.

But then international rights have never stopped the Bushistas from doing what they wanted.

[ngant17]

23. whether US can do anything about it

is a moot question, the fact that hostilities will increase exponentially in the Hormuz region will make it extremely costly and risky to keep trying to ship oil and dodge Iranian mines, missiles, artillery, and suicide boats. Gas climbing from $5/gallon to $10/gallon. Whether or not Iran is completely successful, it doesn't have to be completely successful to make sufficient shock waves in the oil markets.

Military hostilities against Iran will cause oil prices to skyrocket, and that will accomplish the same thing as reducing or shutting down Hormuz shipping in practical terms. Sounds like a checkmate to me, either way. I'd leave them alone and avoid a clash at all costs, unless you don't want the oil anyway.

[struggle4progress]

24. Translation: WE'RE GONNA INTERFERE WITH GULF SHIPPING

[indepat]

25. Little need to worry about vital waterways being kept free for shipping

provided no sovereign nation is pre-emptively attacked. :D

[dysfunctional press]

32. don't you just love it when they start whipping them out to see whose is bigger?

nt

[UpInArms]

36. U.S. won't let Iran shut Gulf

Source: Reuters

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United States will not allow Iran to block the Gulf, the waterway that carries crude from the world's largest oil exporting region, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday.

"Iran will not attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz and we will not allow them to close the Strait of Hormuz. I can't say it anymore clearly than that," Vice-Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, the commander of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, told a conference on Gulf naval security in Abu Dhabi.

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in remarks published last week that Tehran would impose controls on shipping in the Gulf and the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway if it was attacked.

Washington says its warships were threatened by Iranian craft in the Strait of Hormuz in January. Tehran dismissed it as a routine contact and accused the United States of exaggerating for propaganda purposes.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL0237503620080702

[charlie and algernon]

37. oh boy, here we go