Underestimating Iran | رأي اليوم
By Abdel Bari Atwan - 21 juillet 2019
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The US and its allies would be foolish to continue pushing Tehran to the brink
The US and its Western allies who are busy flexing their muscles against Iran these days are making a serious error of judgement. They underestimate the power of Iran and its allies in the region, their likely reaction to the military and political provocations to which they are being subjected, and the potentially disastrous consequences of further escalation.
The current crisis over the detention of oil tankers is the prime example of this.
When Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei warned his country would retaliate for last week’s seizure by British forces of an Iranian tanker in the Strait of Gibraltar, the UK authorities thought he was just mouthing off. They did not expect his threat to be translated into practice. But it was. Iranian naval forces proceeded to detain a British tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming it had violated maritime regulations, collided with an Iranian fishing boat and polluted the waters of the Gulf.
The UK did not detain the Iranian tanker Grace Ibecause it broke any laws, but on instructions received from Washington. And Iran’s Revolutionary Guards did not impound two British tankers in the Gulf (one of which was later released) because of safety or environmental concerns. They did so to obtain a bargaining chip to force the British authorities to release their own vessel. (...)
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