Iranian and American Navies in Gulf of Aden Face-off

The US aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, left the Persian Gulf on Sunday and is now in the Arabian Sea off Yemen, joining other American ships, apparently prepared to block any Iranian weapons shipments to shiite Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen, although the Obama administration and US Navy are being careful about how they characterize the Roosevelt's presence close to a nearby Iranian flotilla. ~~~~~ A Navy official confirmed to Fox News that the Roosevelt - along with her escort ship, the USS Normandy, a guided-missile cruiser - will help enforce the UN blockade that forbids weapons deliveries into Yemen. A massive ship that carries F/A-18 fighter jets, the Roosevelt's presence is a US show of military force. A written statement from the Navy on Monday, cited by Fox, said the two ships are joining others in conducting "maritime security operations." The US Navy has increased its presence in this area recently as a result of the current instability in Yemen, the statement said : "The purpose of these operations is to ensure the vital shipping lanes in the region remain open and safe. The United States remains committed to its regional partners and to maintaining security in the maritime environment." ~~~~~ There are now at least nine US Navy ships in the Arabian Sea area, including cruisers and destroyers, whose teams can board and search vessels, and three support ships. The US Navy normally conducts consensual ship boardings when needed, such as in combatting piracy around Africa. So far however, US naval personnel have not boarded any Iranian vessels during the Yemen conflict. Officials said it's too soon to speculate about what the Navy ships may do as the Iranian convoy approaches, including whether Iran would consent to a boarding request, and what actions the Navy would take if it made a request that was refused. ~~~~~ Meanwhile, Commander Kevin Stephens of the Fifth Fleet told CNN that aircraft from aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt are also conducting "manned reconnaissance" to monitor all maritime traffic moving through the area the Roosevelt is operating in, to assist in making informed decisions. Commander Stephens stressed that the repositioning of US ships in the region was taken in order to assure the freedom of navigation through established international shipping lanes and to ensure maritime security, and not to interdict Iranian ships. Stephens said : "We are closely monitoring all maritime activity in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden. We are not going to discuss the number and types of vessels we are monitoring or speculate about the possible destination or cargo of those vessels." But, according to an unnamed senior Defense Department official, moving the Roosevelt is viewed by the Pentagon as significant but not necessarily a prelude to conflict. If the Iranians are delivering arms and violating United Nations resolutions, it could trigger a confrontation with the Navy. "It's too soon to tell if that will happen," the official said. ~~~~~ At the same time, apparently based on interviews with naval personnel and military analysts, CNN reported yesterday that while the Iranian ships remain in international waters, the US and other partner nations can keep an eye on them to see if they move toward Yemeni territorial waters. CNN quoted a US official as saying that it would be an extraordinary step and not a foregone conclusion that the US would attempt to board an Iranian ship if it entered Yemeni waters. In a concurring statement, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters Tuesday : "I want to be very clear just so that no one has the wrong impression. They are not there to intercept Iranian ships. The purpose of moving them is only to ensure that the shipping lanes remain open and safe." ~~~~~ In a new move yesterday, a fleet of Iranian warships arrived near the southern coast of Yemen, an act that will increase tension in the US-Iran stand-off in the region, as each country seeks to strengthen its position in the current Yemen conflict. The Iranian fleet includes a destroyer and a helicopter-carrying warship. Iran's commander of Iran's Regular Navy, Flotilla Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, when asked about warnings from Saudi Arabia and the US to keep Iranian navy ships away from Yemen, said his fleet was operating legally. "We don't let anyone give us warnings and threats, because we are working according to international law and regulations," he said. "And we work for the security of our country and other countries." ~~~~~ Texas Representative Mac Thornberry, Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN Tuesday : "I don't think this changes anything directly, but it does highlight that Iran has a number of activities around the region and around the world that are problematic. It includes their missile program, it includes their growing influence in Iraq, it includes their propping up of Assad in Syria and their fueling this war in Yemen." ~~~~~ And, dear readers, we have to admit that in this era when most wars are begun practically by appointment and involve land forces, with naval support from air carrier-launched air strikes, we don't think of wars being started by naval encounters. But, US history is full of them -- the "not one cent for tribute" Barbary Wars begun while Thomas Jefferson was President; the War of 1812 provoked by US-British naval fights on the high seas; the Civil War that began when Confederate artillery fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor; the sinking of the Maine in Havana Harbor that began the Spanish-American War; and the most infamous of all - Pearl Harbor. And while not involving the US, the 1805 order of Napoleon to his fleet in Cadiz to run the British blockade and head to the English Channel, where his army was massed ready to invade England -- who can forget the Battle of Trafalgar and Lord Nelson's crushing victory over the French and Spanish that cost him his life, but won for Britain worldwide naval supremacy for more than a century and ended Napoleon's dream of invading England. So, while everyone in Washington is downplaying the possibility that war or a naval battle will emerge from the growing naval confrontation between Iran and the United States, and its allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt, don't rule it out. As Lord Nelson said at Trafalgar : "Something must be left to chance; nothing is sure, in a sea fight above all."