Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Bush Thursday of sending "a message of confrontation" during his trip to the region. It was a sharp response to Bush's tough rhetoric that Iran remains a serious threat.
The war of words had eased a bit since late last year, when a U.S. intelligence report concluded Iran had halted a nuclear weapons program four years ago. But Bush went out of his way while visiting Gulf countries to reiterate that "all options" against Iran remain on the table.
Pointedly, he also warned of "serious consequences" if Iran attacked a U.S. ship in the Gulf, even if it had not been ordered by the Tehran government but was the result of a rash decision by an Iranian boat captain.
Adm. William J. Fallon, the top U.S. military commander in the Mideast, told The Associated Press last week that Iran runs the risk of triggering an unintended conflict if its boats continue to harass U.S. warships in the strategic Gulf.
Key details of the Jan. 6 incident — when five small Iranian boats swarmed three U.S. warships in the Gulf's narrow Strait of Hormuz — remain unclear, including the source of an accented voice heard warning in English: "I am coming to you ... You will explode after ... minutes."
Verbal conflicts between President Bush and President Ahmadinejad could possibly ignite a war between the U.S. and Iran. The recent Gulf incident, in which "five small Iranian boats swarmed three U.S. warships...", and Bush's latest warnings to Iran have several people believing that a disagreement could grow into "a real fight."
2 comments:
Wow, this is interesting. Nice map.
Make sure that the significance is placed after the link.
Very good current event.
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