US upgrades strike capabilities in Persian Gulf to counter Iran

Iran remains in the eye of the storm as its leadership continues to deny halting uranium enrichment despite pressure from world powers. Different options have been explored on different international forums to fix the Islamic Republic. However, world powers have not been unanimous in pursuing diplomatic efforts to coax Iranian leadership for halting enrichment of uranium, one of the most important ingredients in developing an atomic bomb. If Iran succeeds in developing nuclear weapons, the security and stability of not only Israel but the whole region would be at stake. It should be noted here that the top Iranian leadership, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has never ceased to issue threats to Israel.

As far as the US’ policy to handle the issue of nuclear Iran is concerned, there has been contradiction in words and actions lately. In his inauguration speech, President Obama clearly said that the decade of war was over now. The president also hinted during his speech that Iran’s controversial nuclear issue would also be resolved through dialogue and negotiations. The Obama administration was the first one to reject call of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Ehud Barak, for military action against nuclear facilities of Iran.

The president said that utmost efforts would be made to resolve the issue through diplomatic means. Going by his word, Obama also appointed Chuck Hagel as the next defense secretary. Hagel is known for his staunch opposition to strike against Iran. So, it clearly depicts that the Obama administration wants to avoid armed conflict with Iran, focusing completely on dialogue and negotiations.

However, a surprising, distressing development has taken place, with the United States significantly upgrading its strike capabilities in the Persian Gulf. The US stationed six F-22 Stealth fighters in the United Arab Emirates last April. At the time of the deployments of these fighter jets, the US said that it was on temporary basis, but now it seems to be a permanent deployment in the region. The deployment had no other purpose, but to keep a vigil on Iran and its activities in the Persian Gulf. This may incite Iranian leadership and an untoward incident could take place. The US should be careful in its deployments in the region and possible repercussions of it.