In the last few weeks, America’s fighting power has been rapidly building in the Gulf.
Already home to a powerful 5th Fleet – based in Bahrain – the U.S. Navy recently launched a powerful Ohio-class submarine, the USS Georgia, launched by two guided missile submarines – the Royal Port of USS and the USS Philippine Sea – through the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf.
The USS Georgia has nuclear power, specializes in attacking targets deep inland and has an inventory of 154 Tomahawk Cruise missiles, each delivering 450 kilograms (992 pounds) of head standard warfare up to 2,700 kilometers (1,677 miles) away. Designed to fly low under radar coverage, they can destroy strategic targets with little to no warning.
The sailors accompanying the USS Georgia are also fully armed, each carrying a powerful combination of ground attack, air defense and anti-ship missiles.
They are also capable of tracking hundreds of mobile devices with their advanced Aegis Radar chambers and are capable of dropping short- and mid-range ballistic missiles.
These three naval vessels could destroy all node targets throughout Iran, prevent Iran from using their ballistic missile force and destroy Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval bases.
The USS Georgia is also able to deploy dozens of soldiers of special forces that would help gather intelligence, sabotage and act as advanced air controllers, direct air strikes and retrieve assessments. battle damage back to their operating base.
The U.S. has significantly reduced its firepower in the region, with pressure to attack potential targets on land.
Not only that, a USS aircraft carrier Nimitz, which was to be evacuated back to his hometown of San Diego, California, was ordered to stay nearby in the Arabian Sea.
This, coupled with high-profile U.S. B-52 bombing missions to bases in the Gulf, has sent a clear message to Iran’s leadership that any military action by Iran or its regional intelligence forces would receive a shocking response. from the US and its regional allies.
Regional alliances
Iran is no stranger to offshore construction.
An attack against Iran has been debated, developed, refined and threatened for decades and Iran has prepared itself.
In terms of direct combat power, there is serious doubt that Iran could dominate under such an attack but there are difficult nuts to crack.
Iran has dismantled their nuclear sites and is buried in solid bunkers deep underground. Only special weaponry will get a chance to wreak havoc on these sites and even then success is not guaranteed.
These sites are surrounded by capable air defense missile systems and are well-trained elite soldiers.
Iran’s air force is small and old-fashioned but their ballistic missiles and missiles programs are well developed. Complete sanctions against the country have meant that Iranian scientists have had to develop weapons, strengthen the industrial-weapons complex, resulting in an increasingly advanced design.
Despite the incredible facilities built against Iran, it would be almost impossible to stop all Iranian missiles, if they were launched en masse in salvos.
In addition, there is a fast-approaching Iranian UAV or drone fleet that quickly flies in swarms, overcomes enemy defenses and hits targets with precision.
There are also IRGC Ioran special forces and mini-submarines, designed to operate unidentified in the shallow waters of the Gulf. They could cause significant damage to a fleet off the coast of Iran.
U.S. regional alliances have also been raising their forces.
Israel launched a dolphin attack submarine openly through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea with the permission of Egypt. Able to go underwater for weeks, it is extremely quiet and carries torpedoes as well as ground attack and missiles against a boat.
Fighting jets from Saudi Arabia took out the U.S. B-52s part of the way from the U.S. in a public display of support.
All of this sends a clear message to Iran’s leadership that no response to the assassination of its chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh or General Qassem Soleimani would be accepted.
However, President Joe Biden does not appear to allow any armed action against Iran and has named William Burns, a career diplomat and initiator of back channel talks with Iran, as CIA director.
Netanyahu has always been a vocal advocate for military action against Iran, repeatedly speculating that Iran was on the verge of ending the construction of nuclear weapons.
But this has not happened in the 28 years that he has claimed that an Iranian bomb was to be.
Blocked by corruption scandals at home, Netanyahu is likely to be in power for many more years and the incoming Biden administration is already considering a reorganization of the Action Plan Consolidation (JCPOA) if Iran agrees to end its nuclear development as a discounted trade. of sanctions.
Iran has announced it will resume enrichment of 20 percent uranium at its Fordow underground nuclear facility, a sign exacerbated by the lack of progress promised by the JCPOA. It is still far from reaching the 90 percent level required to produce uranium at the weapon level.
Last Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the bold argument that Iran had a new al-Qaeda base, failing the claim with any evidence.
He also said that Iran was and supports al-Qaeda and provides them with shelter and logistics.
This is important because, under the 2001 Authorization of the Military Force, the President does not require Congressional approval for any military action targeting al-Qaeda, which is considered an international organization not affiliated with any country. any and so can be targeted anywhere.
All the pieces are now in place for military action against Iran. Like all other bad plans for an attack on its nuclear facilities, there is no guarantee of success, with the possibility of another war in the region as the war in Iraq in 2003.
But there is little doubt that Iran’s leadership will be among those who take a sigh of relief when Biden is inaugurated on January 20th.