By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
On Saturday, December 26th, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard fired rockets dangerously close to the USS Harry Truman, the aircraft carrier of the US 5th Fleet. Also in the area was a French frigate.
The incident took place in the Straits of Hormuz. Iran gave the United States 23 minutes advance warning and then shot the rockets.
The rockets came within 1250 yards of the US ships.
The action was provocative, to say the least. There is no doubt that tensions are swelling in the region.
In the past the United States has attacked Iranian targets in the Straits and that has been the cause of great tension.
1988 was a very tense year. It all began in April when the Iranians almost sank the USS Samuel B. Roberts when it hit an Iranian landmine. Later that month the US sank oil platforms and 6 Iranian navy ships, including 2 frigates. And in July, the United States accidentally shot own an Iranian airliner killing 290 people. The US said that they mistook the airliner for an Iranian F-14 fighter jet.
Iranians still talk about these events and call for justice.
Iran has threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz. Even a brief closure would be devastating to the oil market - about 30% of the world's oil passes through those straits every single day.
Tensions must be dialed down - now.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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