Territorial Waters off Iran's Coast Are Persian, Not American

by Stephen Lendman

You'd never know it based on how Washington operates globally, seeking dominion over planet earth, its resources, populations and space - naked aggression its main strategy of choice.

On Wednesday, the USS Nitze and USS Mason guided missile destroyers provocatively entered Iranian waters in the Strait of Hormuz - admitted by US Central Command spokesman Commander Kyle Raines.

Four Iranian small vessels interdicted them, both US warships changing course to avoid confrontation. The US Navy called the incident "unsafe and unprofessional."

What legal right have US warships to sail in Iranian waters or those of any other country like Beijing's in the South China Sea or Russia's in the Black Sea.

Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said "(i)f any foreign vessel enters our waters, we will given them a warning and it is an act of aggression, we will confront them."

Iranian vessels monitor all movements in Persian Gulf waters. America maintains a strong naval presence there, including occasional provocative war games. Its Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain includes a formidable array of warships and support vessels - too close to Iranian waters and coastline for comfort. 

Iran's Defense Minister Dehqan earlier said "(t)he Iranian Armed Forces are an intertwined and coherent complex that can give a decisive response to any threat at any level and any place under the command of the Commander-in-Chief."

"The enemy can never assess and think of the range of the response given by the powerful and mighty Armed Forces of the Islamic Iran."

He vowed a strong response to counter any US provocations. America acts irresponsibly, then blames Iran for "unsafe and unprofessional actions (risking) escalation and miscalculation" - claiming US forces "have an inherent obligation for self-defense."

Longtime US policy calls for regime change in Iran. Perhaps a provocative action instigated by Fifth Fleet warships one day will be a Gulf of Tonkin type incident used to declare war.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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