Reply #74: Iranian threats have been a gift to Bush.....

[EVDebs]

""The Iranians have repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if the rest of the world does not do what Iran wishes it to do in a variety of ways. There was such a threat in May 1997, with the Iranians saying that if the Americans were to try to take any kind of retaliatory action against Iranian terrorism, they would close this Strait of Hormuz. During a 18 December 1997 press conference, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Maleki stated that Iran supports "the free flow of oil" through the Strait of Hormuz, but reserved the option of closing off the shipping route if it is threatened. Iran ad recently has admitted to deploying anti- aircraft and anti- ship missiles on Abu Musa, an island strategically located near the Strait of Hormuz’s shipping lanes. Some say it would be foolish for Iran to seek to disrupt oil traffic in the Gulf because all of its oil flows through the Gulf. The US Government doesn't anticipate that Iran would try to do something like that because it would be the first victim of any such program.""

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/arabian-gauntlet.htm

Shia Iran vs. Sunni Saudi Arabia. Behind the scenes. Also, EU support behind scenes. Oh, and the Muslim riots over 'cartoons', a brilliant provokation that unites EU/US on this matter. Allah must love those war planners. If Iranians were smart they would just wait 25 more years and demand access to non-oil energy...if that were their true intentions.