(Telegraph-UK) David Axe - Twenty times in the past three years, Iranian forces have tried to board foreign-flagged commercial vessels sailing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz into or out of the Persian Gulf. After Iranian gunboats opened fire on the Bahamas-flagged tanker Richmond Voyager on July 5, the Pentagon announced it would deploy a destroyer and F-16 and F-35 fighters to reinforce U.S. forces - including F-22 stealth fighters and a pair of destroyers - already in the Middle East. Iranian forces have harassed Persian Gulf shipping off and on for decades. More than once, the harassment - and the American response - have escalated into open air and naval warfare. Each time, it was a disaster for Tehran. U.S. forces hugely outgunned Iranian forces in the 1980s and the mismatch is no less dramatic today.
2023-07-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive