http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/27/world/meast/iran-navy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Quote :

"(CNN) -- Iran plans to send ships near the Atlantic coast of the United States, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported Tuesday, quoting a commander. "The Navy of the Iranian Army will have a powerful presence near the United States borders," read the headline of the story, in Farsi. "Commander of the Navy of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran broke the news about the plans for the presence of this force in the Atlantic Ocean and said that the same way that the world arrogant power is present near our marine borders, we, with the help of our sailors who follow the concept of the supreme jurisprudence, shall also establish a powerful presence near the marine borders of the United States," the story said. The reference to the "world arrogant power" was presumably intended to refer to the United States. IRNA cited the force's website as saying that the announcement was made by Adm. Habibollah Sayari on the 31st anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war. State-run Press TV said Sayari had announced similar plans in July. In February, two Iranian Navy ships traversed the Suez Canal in the first such voyages by Iranian ships since 1979. U.S. Defense Department officials had no immediate reaction to Tuesday's announcement. The United States has deployed fleets to the Persian Gulf in the past. State-run Press TV, citing IRNA, said Tuesday's announcement came as Iran also plans to send its 16th fleet of warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian vessels and oil tankers from pirates, who have hijacked dozens of ships and exchanged their crews for ransom. The Islamic Republic has repeatedly assured that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that Tehran's defense doctrine is based only on deterrence, Press TV reported in a story in July about the deployment of submarines to international waters."

9/27/2011 8:33:05 PM

i either just peed myself, pooped myself, or possibly both simultaneously

9/27/2011 8:37:05 PM

they should've come during hurricane season

9/27/2011 8:37:52 PM

Quote :

"meast"

9/27/2011 8:38:07 PM

Quote :

"Commander of the Navy of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran"

I'm getting that put on my business card.

9/27/2011 8:40:08 PM

LOLZ

9/27/2011 8:41:54 PM

time to unmothball the battleships

9/27/2011 8:42:11 PM

Some random googling leads me to believe that the US Coast Guard could handle the entire Iranian Navy with plenty of room for error.

9/27/2011 8:42:59 PM

I went to CNN.com to read the article and they have a picture of their first warship built in 2009.

Pretty much looks like a ship from Deadliest Catch with a gun mounted on it.

9/27/2011 8:54:19 PM

9/27/2011 8:57:03 PM

Get. Off. My. Coast.

9/27/2011 8:59:56 PM

For some reason the idea of a bunch of Persians on a boat seems funny to me

And also dangerous. I wouldn't want to be on an Iranian boat

9/27/2011 9:00:12 PM

Us Navy is bigger than the next 17 largest combined. This is little threat.

9/27/2011 9:02:08 PM

Lets meet them for battle on the high seas with our pirate ships and shoot cannon balls at them.

9/27/2011 9:03:04 PM

Little do we know...



It's not an action movie - it's a documentary.

9/27/2011 9:04:24 PM

They have a word for "jurisprudence" in iranian Farsi?

[Edited on September 27, 2011 at 9:05 PM. Reason : .]

9/27/2011 9:05:35 PM

9/27/2011 9:06:16 PM

9/27/2011 9:06:32 PM

Quote :

"U.S. Defense Department officials had no immediate reaction to Tuesday's announcement."

It will probably go something like this:

9/27/2011 9:10:47 PM

9/27/2011 10:06:31 PM

Iran sees us floatin. They hatin.

9/27/2011 10:35:53 PM

9/27/2011 10:38:16 PM

9/27/2011 10:39:14 PM

you know, the USS Constitution (old ironsides) is still a commissioned warship in the US navy...

9/27/2011 10:40:35 PM

At least it's not this ship:

9/27/2011 10:42:13 PM

COME GET SOME.

9/27/2011 10:42:26 PM

9/27/2011 10:43:25 PM

We should jam their communications with American media so they can see what their gov. has been censoring.

9/27/2011 10:46:17 PM

quick! man the mounds at fort fisher!

9/27/2011 10:47:51 PM

There's an app for that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_Solo


As far as the Iranian Navy of the Iranian Army or whatever the hell they're called...ehh. I imagine that, at most, they'll just sail a couple of ships in international waters near our coast, which they're entitled to do. If they get into our waters or threaten any American vessel, then that's a different matter.

As far as making a statement, I don't know about what. It certainly isn't a statement of power projection against the U.S.

9/27/2011 10:57:58 PM

Quote :

"As far as making a statement, I don't know about what. It certainly isn't a statement of power projection against the U.S. "

That’s probably true in practical terms, but who knows how the media will spin this our how the public will react.

9/27/2011 11:31:45 PM

It's beyond any shadow of a doubt true in practical terms...and I don't view the public as having any meaningful say in foreign policy.

9/27/2011 11:33:17 PM

Quote :

"they'll just sail a couple of ships in international waters near our coast, which they're entitled to do."

Exactly what I was thinking. I don't think they are actually stupid enough to fire upon a United States vessel.

9/27/2011 11:47:26 PM

i could see them running out of fuel in a hurricane or something and needing a coast guard rescue

9/27/2011 11:51:59 PM

You mean a U.S. Navy capture.

9/27/2011 11:56:47 PM

im telling ya,

shadow them with the uss constitution.

make the whole world laugh at them.

9/28/2011 1:42:59 PM

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/27/two-new-narco-subs-found-in-colombia/?iref=obinsite

It'd be funny if while they were off the coast, they ran into the Mexican drug cartels with their subs, and were blown out of the water.

9/28/2011 3:28:08 PM

Clearly world arrogant power is referring to Canada.

9/28/2011 3:31:26 PM

just send them porn dvd's and they will all defect.

9/28/2011 3:36:15 PM

got damn this thread brought the lolz

10/10

9/28/2011 3:36:43 PM

I don't think Iran really wants to play this hard... their ships will be sunk with a simple air strike.

unless they really want to start shit, in which case, they've created a nuclear missile, but don't have the launch capability except from a ship close to the US... so when they get here, they threaten with nuclear missile strikes

ahh, conspiracy theory... scary.


[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 3:42 PM. Reason : .]

9/28/2011 3:38:57 PM

It's not about the ships. In fact, irans doesn't care about the ships or the sailors.


Iran only cares about proving a point:

If we don't let them parade their ships around our coast, they will call us hypocrites because we parade around their shores.

If we do let them parade their ships, they could easily put rockets/missles in rage of our coastline (especially washington d.c) for an element of surprise attack.

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 3:47 PM. Reason : .]

9/28/2011 3:47:09 PM

I think our response to this was a collective and resounding "MEH..."


http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/world/meast/iran-navy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Quote :

"(CNN) -- The White House on Wednesday dismissed an Iranian threat to deploy warships near the U.S. coast, and military experts said Iran lacks the naval capability to do so. Overnight Tuesday, Iranian state news quoted a commander as saying his country plans to have a "powerful presence" near the U.S. border. In response, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that "we don't take these statements seriously, given that they do not reflect at all Iran's naval capabilities." Pentagon spokesman George Little echoed Carney's point, saying Iran has the right to send vessels into international waters, but "whether they can truly project naval power beyond the region is another question." "I wouldn't read too much into what came out of Iran today," Little said, adding: "I think what is said and what is actually done can be two different things." State-run Press TV in Iran said similar plans were announced in July. However, no Iranian warships ever deployed. In February, two Iranian navy vessels traversed the Suez Canal in the first such voyage by Iranian ships since 1979. Richard Herrmann, director of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at The Ohio State University, said Iran's navy is too small with too miniscule a budget to remain for long off the U.S. coast. "This is hard to take seriously, because Iran's navy is very small. This force, whatever it may be, is going to be puny, especially compared to the U.S. Navy," said Herrmann, who specializes in the use of imagery and posturing in international conflicts. "Iran doesn't have the capability to come within close proximity to (the United States) to conduct hostile activities. Even if (Iran) launched missiles, we would sink their ships immediately." Iran lacks battleships or aircraft carriers. Its forces are capable of patrolling the Persian Gulf and sailing a short distance in the Indian Ocean, Herrmann said, but keeping ships stationed near the United States, so far from Iran, would be too expensive for the government. "They would need a place to resupply, refuel, restock crews with food and water. They couldn't afford that unless they got help," Herrmann said. "I would imagine they could get help from somewhere in South America, maybe Venezuela." Venezuela and Iran are allied by their anti-U.S. sentiments. Michael Connell, the director of the Iranian studies program at CNA, a Washington-area think tank that specializes in naval analyses, agreed with Herrmann. "Their navy can't reach our coastline right now," Connell said, describing the Iranian announcement as "bombastic rhetoric." "It's posturing" by Iran intended for both its domestic and regional audience, Connell said. Making such pronouncements projects a dominant role including naval power, whether or not they can back it up, he added. "The Iranians have been historically annoyed that we have a naval presence in the Persian Gulf, which is kind of their backyard," Connell said. The worst move the United States could make now would be to overreact, said John Mueller, the Woody Hayes chair of national security studies at Mershon. "Hopefully this won't play into (American) neo-cons who are itching for a war with Iran," he said. "The best thing to do is ignore it and treat it with the contempt it deserves. If Iran wants to waste their time and money on a dwindling supply of fuel (to keep ships) bobbing around in the Atlantic Ocean, then let them." The idea of Iran moving ships near the U.S. coast is not on par with the Soviet Union flying planes off the coast of Alaska during the Cold War, Mueller noted. The Soviets' move was legal, and was considered a gesture intended to irritate the United States, he said. "Those were different circumstances and different players," Mueller added. Herrmann cautioned that while moving ships near the U.S. coast may not be a real threat, Iran is certainly capable of harming the United States -- but closer to Iran. Iran could attack U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, on the south coast of Iran. Such attacks could disrupt oil markets and scare American tourists, Herrmann said."

9/28/2011 4:01:34 PM

haha

9/28/2011 4:04:38 PM

Secret photo taken during Iranian Navy wargames:



[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 4:45 PM. Reason : ..]

9/28/2011 4:44:19 PM

They couldn't beat our dinghy.

But seriously, that ship doesn't look much bigger than a frigate. I doubt very seriously they have the ability to sustain a ship that far across the world without supply ships. Smaller ships have to take on fuel and stores at an alarming rate.

Methinks that Iran would not like to face a US warship at DogZebra GQ

9/28/2011 4:45:18 PM

im pretty sure sailing a ship close to the US and even hinting at a nuclear missile strike would equal instant sinkage.

whatever ship they send (if any) will be followed out of its home port by one of our attack submarines anyway, lol.

9/28/2011 5:06:21 PM

Quote :

"ARROGANT BNR"

9/28/2011 5:16:39 PM

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 7:13 PM. Reason : .]

9/28/2011 7:10:14 PM

all that equipment, yet their flashlights are taped onto their rifles

i guess the blue muzzle means it's not live?

9/28/2011 7:15:58 PM