By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Washington Post reports, that the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and a guided missile cruiser were headed to the waters off Yemen on Monday to join 10 other American warships as a warning to Iran about its shipments of weapons to rebels there, American officials said.
The Obama administration started this primarily as a show of force, but acknowledged that the flotilla could be used to interdict any supplies of Iranian arms to the Houthi rebels. The warships are also meant to reassure Saudi Arabia, an American ally that has been carrying out a bombing campaign against the rebels in Yemen.
“This is really about sending a message,” said an American official who declined to be identified as discussing a continuing military operation. “It is a message to our partners that we are in this and willing to support. It is a message to the Iranians that we’re watching.”
Forbes, however, writes that Obama’s administration decision to negotiate with Tehran triggered near hysteria among U.S. politicians and pundits who advocate perpetual war in the Middle East. One complaint is that the talks were not broad enough. They did not address Iran’s malign intervention throughout the Middle East.
However, if regional domination is a long-term priority, it is striking how little Tehran has accomplished. Most governments in the region dislike and oppose the Islamic regime. Nor is Iran much of a dominatrix, especially compared to America with its strong influence throughout the entire Persian Gulf and North Africa and in Iraq and Jordan; Saudi Arabia’s equally significant role in the Gulf and Egypt and among Syrian rebels; and Israel’s overwhelming regional military strength.
In an opinion article on Monday in The Times, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, urged to finalize the nuclear deal and called for a regional security dialogue in the Persian Gulf to discuss broader security issues, including a diplomatic solution to the conflict raging in Yemen.
