Pax Americana In Iraq Is Changing - Part 10 - The US Is Surrounding Iran.

Step by step for the past six years the US has been surrounding Iran militarily, economically and politically. A unanimous UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on March 24 added further sanctions against Tehran and the two UNSC powers on which Iran has been counting for support, Russia and China, are no longer on board as they used to be. Subsequent developments show the Shi'ite theocracy of Tehran is miscalculating things dangerously and could fall into a trap.

In Iraq the Neo-Salafi group al-Qaeda, the most extremist among Sunni fanatics, is failing to establish what was to be the nucleus for a revival of the last Sunni caliphate - which collapsed with the fall of the Ottoman empire in World War I (see Part 9 in fap3-Iraq-QaedaBaseMar12-07). But the Neo-Salafis remain a deadly foe, killing a big number of Shi'ites every day.

According to recent press reports, there have been joint US-Israeli military exercises held secretly, mainly involving air forces and the use of anti-missile capabilities. There have been indications the aim is an attack of Iran's nuclear installations. News agencies on March 27 reported an Israeli announcement that Israel had succeeded in hitting a long-range missile. But it was not known whether that was part of the joint US-Israeli exercises.

The Associated Press on March 27 reported that the US Navy in the Persian Gulf had begun an exercise with two aircraft carriers and more than 100 planes. But AP said the show of force was not a response to the March 23 capture of 15 British Navy personnel by Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). AP quoted a US Navy commander as saying American vessels would not enter Iranian waters.

Gulf News on March 28 said the US navy was staging major war games in the Persian Gulf involving two nuclear-powered carriers and their strike groups in "the most intense military buildup since the 2003 war on Iraq". Gulf News quoted Lt Commander Charlie Brown, spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Naval Central Command, as saying: "This marks the first time the (US aircraft carriers) John C. Stennis and Dwight D. Eisenhower strike groups have operated together in a joint exercise while deployed to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet".

Gulf News said: "The sea and air exercises will be conducted amid growing tension in the region following Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines, including one woman. But Brown denied that the exercise was aimed at exerting pressure on Iran or any other country". Gulf News quoted Brown as saying: "This exercise demonstrates the importance of the ability of both strike groups to plan and conduct dual task force operations as part of the US's long-standing commitment to assuring friends and allies and to maintaining maritime security and stability in this region".

There are reports the US is sending to the Persian Gulf a third aircraft carrier and its battle group.

Gulf News reported the US Navy as saying: "Two air wings from the [two] aircraft carriers will conduct air warfare exercises, while the surface components will conduct exercises in anti-submarine, anti-surface and mine warfare. The Stennis strike group arrived on Tuesday (March 26) in the Gulf under the escort of the guided-missile cruiser Antietam".

Gulf News added: "According to Brown, the French aircraft carrier group Charles de Gaulle - in the Arabian Sea since mid-March - will not be involved in the joint exercises". Gulf News quoted Brown as saying: "The Charles de Gaulle is currently outside the Gulf and will not be part of the exercises". But he added that the two US and the French carriers worked together, supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq".

Gulf News quoted Lt Commander Bertrand Bonneau, chief of press for the French navy, as saying the Charles de Gaulle would be restricted to actions involving Afghanistan and would enter the Gulf waters only at the end of April for a port call in Abu Dhabi.