[Washington Institute for Near East Policy] Fariborz Haghshenass - For more than a decade, Iran has lavished a considerable share of its defense budget on its naval forces, believing that the Persian Gulf will be its front line in the event of a confrontation with the U.S. Current Iranian naval deployments are aimed at deterring an American attack and - in the event of hostilities - entrapping and destroying U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf, at which time U.S. regional bases would be targeted with rocket and missile strikes as well. Iranian naval forces would conduct simultaneous close-in and stand-off attacks, relying on swarming tactics developed and refined during the Iran-Iraq War.
2006-12-22 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive