Iranian Navy Testing U.S. Navy Near Iraq's Oil Port

The Iranian Navy is doing little to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington with some new Iranian Navy patrols near the main Iranian oil port facility to test American Navy responses. With tensions so high in the region, Iran should be careful not to provoke a situation that could lead to military miscalculation of some sort. The leadership in Tehran should be careful not to allow the war of words escalate into an actual shooting event of some type that could be very difficult to roll back.

The Iranian Navy is actually the weakest of the Iranian military branches, and would be little match for the U.S. Navy. However, Iran does own a number of potent antiship missiles including a smaller landlaunched one that did heavy damage to an Israeli Navy ship in the beginning days of the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

The MidEast does not need more provocation, and the Iranian Navy should be careful not to add to the high tensions in the region with these new activities.