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Iran deploys 60-ship armada for massive war readiness maneuver
DEBKAfile
Friday, Dec 05, 2008
Wednesday, Dec. 3, the Iranian navy and air force
began a six-day maneuver of marine and air might which Tehran
radio said would cover an area of 50,000 square miles of the Persian
Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has threatened
to block the narrow strait if attacked. Admiral Qasem Rostamabadi
said its aim is to "increase the level of readiness of Iran's
naval forces and test domestically-made naval weaponry."
This is stage two of a larger exercise dubbed Unity-87, DEBKAfile's
military sources report.
Air strikes against "which sank big enemy vessels"
were said to be part of the war game, a clear reference to American
air carriers, three of which are now present in waters opposite
Iran. Iranian Navy chief Adm. Habibollah Sayyari boasted Wednesday:
"Iran has pushed back the frontiers of naval capabilities
to become the decisive maritime force in the region."
DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report that the exercise is part
of Tehran's preparations for a US and/or Israeli attack on its
nuclear installations and Revolutionary Guards bases which its
political, military and intelligence strategists are convinced
is on the way ahead of Barak Obama's January 21 inauguration as
US president.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
Tuesday, Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani called the United States "the main enemy
of the Islamic Republic of Iran." He was speaking on the
thirtieth anniversary of Iran's post-revolutionary parliament
(Majlis).
A senior Iranian official visiting Abu Dhabi at the end of November
said that Obama's decision to retain Robert Gates at the Pentagon
was taken in Tehran as further confirmation of the coming attack
in view of which he had resolved not to change war horses. Naming
Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and Gen. James Jones as
national security adviser was also interpreted as the harnessing
of backers for an open military option. Every effort made to persuade
the Iranians that Washington was not about to exercise this option
has fallen on deaf ears.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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