Persian Gulf & Middle East Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

kwaigonegin said:

That would be the Moskva and she is already in the Med. Only bad things will come if a Harpoon or a Tomahwak strikes her either intentionally or unintentionally.

Obama need to lay this one off IMHO. Let the Russians sort this out with the Iranians etc. Assad does NOT pose a national security threat to the US/UK or Europe. Heck Assad's wife is/was a UK citizen herself.

He may be a murderous tyrant BUT anti Western//White/Christian etc Islamist he is not.

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bd popeye said:

Thanks asif iqbal.. The USS Mahan has been deployed since 28 December 2012.. It's time to go home..

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perfume said:

And if the Americans do not get British support, it will be another political blow to Obama and the US.

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bd popeye said:

Yeesh..I do not like this whole situation.. not at all...All sides seem to have their fingers on the trigger.

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Equation said:

Ok this is getting crazier everyday. There hasn't been this much tension between the US and Russia since the Cold War days and the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wasn't born during the Kennedy years but I'm sure some of you older members do remember the intensity of it all.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — For more than a generation, Iranian papers have regularly posted the announcements: Another veteran from the 1980s war with Iraq has died of complications blamed on exposure to chemical weapons from Saddam Hussein's arsenal. Each one is buried with a hero's honors.

The claims now that Iran's Syrian allies used similar tactics, including possibly unleashing sarin gas, has forced Tehran's leaders into perhaps their most difficult juncture of the nearly 30-month civil war. Iran's rulers could face an uncomfortable backlash at home — and possibly stir upheavals inside its powerful Revolutionary Guard — if they're seen as ignoring allegations and U.N. investigations into possible chemical attacks by Bashar Assad's regime.

Yet Iran remains, for the moment at least, solidly behind Assad and seeks to shift attention to efforts at blocking possible Western military action against Syria. Damascus is a critical ally for Tehran as a major foothold in the Arab world and its pathway to funnel aid to its main proxy militant, Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran's strategy includes a series of warnings that Israel could be drawn into a wider conflict — most likely by Hezbollah offensives — if the U.S. and others launch attacks on Syrian government sites. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this week described possible Western attacks as "a spark in a gunpowder store."

Tehran also is using its diplomatic leverage with Russia and China to try to slow the momentum toward possible military action.

On Thursday, Iran's new president, Hasan Rouhani, called possible military strikes on Syria an "open violation" of international laws. The comments, reported by state TV, followed talks by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Rouhani repeated his blanket condemnations of any use of chemical weapons. But he also tried to appeal to political blocs in the West, including the U.S., that are wary of a rush to military action.

"Early judgment can be dangerous," said Rouhani, insisting more time is needed to probe the allegations that it was Assad's regime that used possible chemical agents in an Aug. 21 attack that the aid group Doctors Without Borders says killed at least 355 people. Syrian officials insist that rebels carried out the attack.

Iran's seesaw strategy of denouncing chemical weapons but not directly implicating Assad appears to underscore the ongoing debates inside Iran's leadership of just how far to stick by Assad.

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Naval Today said:

ANADOLU Shipyard has successfully delivered to Turkish Naval Forces Command TCG Ç-158, the Eighth vessel of the 8 strong vessel Landing Craft Tank (LCT) project.

On August 28th 2012 Tuesday, TCG Ç-158 was delivered to Turkish Navy with a ceremony who was attended by Captain Bülent Akgöl of İstanbul Navy Shipyard. Also attended to the Ceremony Mr. M.Faruk Ürkmez, Chairman of ANADOLU Shipyard, Admiral (Ret) Metin Poyrazlar, Defense Coordinator, Mr. Ertuğ Yaşar, CEO as well as officers from Undersecretariat of defense Industries (SSM) and Turkish Naval Forces Command.

These vessels are built according to NATO and all other relevant Navy standards.

TCG Ç-158 is the Eighth vessel of the Project. Seven other LCTs of ANADOLU Shipyard were successfully tested and delivered to Turkish Navy.

- The first LCT of ANADOLU Shipyard namely TCG Ç-151 was delivered on March 9th 2012,
- The second LCT TCG Ç-152 on April 17th 2012;
- The third and fourth LCTs TCG Ç-153 and TCG Ç-154 on April 27th 2012.
- The fifth LCT TCG Ç-155 on June 15th 2012;
- The sixth LCT TCG Ç-156 on June 1st 2012;
- The seventh LCT TCG Ç-157 on July 13th 2012;

Thus this Navy project, undertaken by a privately owned Naval Shipyard, was completed on time and on scheduled as it was planned 37 months ago in July 2009.

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