U.S. Navy and Iranians tiptoe carefully in Persian Gulf

The U.S and Iranian Navy operations - in addition to extensive shipping operations - in the small Persian Gulf cause real risks of accidents. It's crowded and busy. The U.S. and Iranian naval operators especially have to communicate frequently and carefully. The LA Times reports on the situation:

in the cramped sea routes of the Persian Gulf, U.S. and Iranian warship sailors and fighter pilots speak to each other daily.

They have to. They're practically jostling one another in courteous games of surveillance, counter-surveillance and geopolitical posturing.

"We are operating very close to their territorial waters in a very confined space with a tremendous amount of traffic, be it the small dhows, be it the supertankers going up to the oil platforms," said U.S. Navy Capt. Sterling Gilliam Jr., commander of air operations for this nuclear-powered supercarrier and its associated ships.

"The margin of error is smaller in that the space is more confined. That would be the case even if anyone was your ally, just because of the sheer small size of the Arabian Gulf," Gilliam said, using an alternative name for the body of water.

Even mundane changes of direction require chitchat with Iranian counterparts. When sedate gulf winds fade to a whisper, for example, this 100,000-ton carrier whips up to the 25 knots required to hurl jets into flight from the 1,092-foot flight deck.

But first the vessel alerts nearby forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and the organization's navy.

"We would do the standard international maritime measures," said Capt. Bradley Johanson, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier.

"We would call them on their radio and say, 'Sir, I just wanted to let you know that we're going to be turning to port and be coming to this course so that we're into the wind in support of our flight operation."

The Iranians respond professionally and courteously, Johanson said: " 'Thank you very much for the information. We will move off to the starboard position. We very much appreciate the heads-up.' "

Nearly half of the U.S. Navy's 277 warships are stationed close to Iran, alongside most of Tehran's estimated 140 naval surface ships and six submarines, according to GlobalSecurity.org. More than five dozen aircraft are aboard the Stennis, along with dozens more aboard the Nimitz, another U.S. aircraft carrier in the gulf.

If either the U.S. or the Iranians want to threaten war it will be very easy to do. Worse, the risk of another accident like the U.S. Navy shoot-down of the Iranian airliner in 1988 remains very high.

I'm sure Dick Cheney is very much aware of the possibilities of threatening or starting a war in the Persian Gulf. The rest of us (and especially Secretary of Defense Bob Gates) need to keep in mind how to stop him. The same risk exists on the Iranian side as current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard tend to lose support to the more liberal elements of Iranian political society.

(See prior post Internal Iranian politics from Friday, July 06, 2007.)