Two US Navy Boats In Iran Custody - Pentagon

The Iranians are saying it's a mistake.....

Storm in a teacup, I suspect. Though I am none too sure why they were anywhere near Iranian waters when they were supposedly sailing from Kuwait to Bahrain.

Sky:

There were reports at least one of the US vessels drifted after developing mechanical problems.

General Ali Fadavi, Navy chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, confirmed on state television on Wednesday a "broken" navigation system caused the boats to stray into Iranian waters, adding the issue was being "resolved"

Last time this happened, it involved us, and the RN crews were more upset when their ipods were confiscated than anything else.

It's now being reported that they've been released, so all the armchair generals screaming that this was an 'act of war' can calm down. I wonder what would have happened if an Iranian carrier had sailed close to US waters, then sent a couple of smaller boats up the Hudson?

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/01/13/445635/Iran-US-IRGC-Persian-Gulf/

Iran frees trespassing US sailors after Americans apologized



Iranian version of events at link.

They will have a great story to tell their grandchildren in the future.

I still can't work out how they managed to get so far off course, Lily, but hey ho, all's well that ends well.

Do you suppose it's finally sunk in with the female 'marine' draped in the ratty-looking headgear that islamic nations don't go in much for diversity training and safe spaces in their military?

I suspect the initial cause was cock-up rather than conspiracy, Lily, and then Iran made the most of a golden opportunity to make Obama look like a fool. Not that he needs much help....

Can't argue with you.....

Given the way of the world in the 21st century, Lily, I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the errant marines were all updating their FB pages, instead of looking where they were going. Can you imagine the uproar if a couple of boatloads of Iranian marines were caught in US waters? I don't think they'd be sent back after a three course meal and a spot on telly, somehow.

I know......but I do wonder if their imminent $150 billion payout for sanctions relief had anything to do with it?

Oh, what a cynical thought, Lily! As if Iran would want to embarrass Obama on his big night AND get handed billions of dollars! No, I am sure it never occurred to them to capitalise on this golden opportunity unfortunate mishap!

I sometimes wonder if Americans realise 'Iran' is actually Persia, which was a thriving empire more than 2,000 years ago - they have had a couple of millenniums to practise this sort of thing.

Perish the thought, Bonny. I'm sure it slipped everyone's minds......

I think some people are aware but I'm not sure the younger generation are, to be honest.

The Persians (King Darius, centre) at the Battle of Issus, 1st century B.C, from a Roman mosaic. The Persians attacked a Roman garrison using lethal gas

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1116242/Chemical-weapons-used-Persians-Roman-army-2-000-years-ago.html#ixzz3xFQV1UgM
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I think Iran's got a bit of a head start on the Pentagon....

Just slightly....

Look where Iran is putting its money:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01/29/flush-with-cash-and-free-sanctions-irans-rouhani-mounts-international-shopping-spree.html?intcmp=hpbt1

In Italy, Rouhani signed some $18 billion worth of deals, including shipbuilding, steel and energy contracts. Next, Rouhani moved on to gay Paris for another staggering round of shopping:

- $24 billion for 118 Airbus planes. Check.

- $400 million for a manufacturing deal with carmaker Peugeot. Check.

- A deal with energy giant Total to buy up to 200,000 barrels of Iranian crude per day. Double check.

The dizzying dealmaking was made possible by the lifting of international sanctions on Iran following an agreement with the West to dismantle much of its suspect nuclear infrastructure.


See, now Trump would have understood the Art of the Deal, and that it had naff all to do with Yuman Rites, and everying to do with $$$$$$$

Comment:

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EdwardLarson
EdwardLarson 2 hours ago
118 Airbus jets that will be painted in the colors of European airliners and modified to carry an Iranian nuke.

Oh, don't be so damned stupid. Iran is NO threat to the US - it's all about the $$$$$$

It does show how well the propaganda campaign has been against them.

It's actually astonishing, Lily:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran

In 1951, Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected as the prime minister. He became enormously popular in Iran, after he nationalized Iran's petroleum industry and oil reserves. He was deposed in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, an Anglo-American covert operation that marked the first time the US had overthrown a foreign government during the Cold War.[130]

After the coup, the Shah became increasingly autocratic and sultanistic, and Iran entered a phase of decades long controversial close relations with the United States and some other foreign governments.[131] While the Shah increasingly modernized Iran and claimed to retain it as a fully secular state,[30] arbitrary arrests and torture by his secret police, the SAVAK, were used to crush all forms of political opposition.

How would Americans feel if China overthrew their legal government?

It's actually a rather good example of why I quite like Trump, and his philosophy of keeping US noses out of stuff that isn't US business, while making money wherever possible.

Smart man.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/02/report-us-airlifted-400-million-to-iran-as-detained-americans-were-released.html


Report: US airlifted $400 million to Iran as detained Americans were released

The U.S. government airlifted the equivalent of $400 million to Iran this past January, which occurred as four detained Americans were released by Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The cash transfer was the first installment paid in a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a failed 1979 arms deal dating from just before the Iranian Revolution.

State Department spokesman John Kirby denied the cash transfer was done to secure the release of the four Americans.

The negotiations over the [arms deal] settlement ... were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home," Kirby said in a statement. "Not only were the two negotiations separate, they were conducted by different teams on each side."

"The funds that were transferred to Iran were related solely to the settlement of a long-standing claim at the U.S.-Iran Claims Tribunal at The Hague," Kirby's statement concluded.

However, the Journal says U.S. officials acknowledge that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash to show they had gained something tangible.

The Journal also reported that President Barack Obama did not disclose the $400 million cash payment when he announced Jan. 17 that the arms deal dispute had been resolved. The administration has not disclosed how the $1.7 billion was paid, except to say it was not paid in dollars.

The cash flown to Iran consisted of euros, Swiss francs, and other currencies because U.S. law forbids transacting American dollars with Iran.

Since the cash was airlifted, Iran's Revolutionary Guard has arrested two more Iranian-Americans. Tehran has also detained dual-nationals from France, Canada and the U.K. in recent months.

"Paying ransom to kidnappers puts Americans even more at risk," Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said ina statement. "While Americans were relieved by Iran’s overdue release of illegally imprisoned American hostages, the White House’s policy of appeasement has led Iran to illegally seize more American hostages."


"The funds that were transferred to Iran were related solely to the settlement of a long-standing claim at the U.S.-Iran Claims Tribunal at The Hague," Kirby's statement concluded.

Yes, of course they were. Just an unfortunate coincidence.