[paraclete]

Iran has basically told the US not to come back to the Persian Gulf. While it may be posturing it doesn't appear to be a big deal. A second string nation has been allowed to twist the tale of the tiger almost without comment.
Iran says U.S. warships in Persian Gulf spawn 'mayhem' - CNN.com
Usually such actions are a prelude to conflict, but the US appears to be acting like it didn't happen or Iran is of no consequence. If Iran is of no consequence why is their atomic program such a big deal?

Is Iran emboldened by the withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraq?

[tomder55]

Is Iran emboldened by the withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraq?

OBl called it the "Strong Horse" .That appears to be the exact way the people there view power and weakness.

The Chinese told us not to exercise in the Yellow Sea and we complied . Now Iran is telling us we can't travel through international waters . I don't know if and when the Obama Adm will respond. I think it's a bluff that should be called . We have a base in Bahrain . I would have 2 carrier groups going in and out of the Gulf at regular intervals . So long as they stay in the regular international shipping lanes they should not be viewed as a threat to Iran.

[paraclete]

OBl called it the "Strong Horse" .That appears to be the exact way the people there view power and weakness.

A strong horse with a very small military budget, however that may be the product of local sourcing, rather than buying big price tag items from overseas. By any standard Iran's forces are huge but very biased towards land forces. They could however enforce an embargo in the straits from land. I expect they fear US air superiority and of course history doesn't die in that part of the world.

[tomder55]

With the world's cooperation ,like what happened in South Africa ,sanctions can and would be an effective deterrent. Short of that ;the options are to use raw power ,or to attempt to contain.

In the past containment relied on effective alliances and MAD once the opposing powers had nuclear power.
Do you really think that MAD is an option when the leadership of the dictatorship are wed to the cult of death ideology like the 12ers ?

[talaniman]

They can block the straits of Hormoz, but can they keep it blocked? More sanctions will be coming.

[paraclete]

Sanctions don't seem to be important to them. They have lived a long time with sanctions and developed industries and their market for oil and gas. Even Pakistan, a US ally, is a big customer.