Mullahs and Missiles: Iran Flaunts Its Aggressive Intent by Peter Brookes
The Bear on Jul 12 2008 at 7:07 am | Filed under: National Defense
It’s not unusual for a state to conduct military exercises, but Iran had a lot more in mind when it literally went ballistic yesterday - launching nine medium- and long-range missiles during its “Great Prophet” war games.
Without question, this latest round of saber-rattling wasn’t just routine defense drills. It was intended, instead, to posture and provoke - and to advance Iranian interests:
Oil markets: The price of oil slipped a tad in the last day or two, which runs counter to the interests of Tehran’s needy coffers. (Iran’s economy is highly dependent on energy revenues - not to mention a mess due to incompetent mullah management.)
The war games are sure to ratchet up regional tensions - and thereby push the price of “black gold” back up.
Push-back: Energy-dependent Western nations have imposed economic sanctions on Tehran to pressure it to stop enriching uranium, a step toward nuclear weapons. Iran is hitting back by rattling nervous oil markets.
The mullahs also have threatened to attack oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world’s oil exports travel. The sea and land war games, including a variety of missile shots, put some semblance of teeth into that threat.
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