Ship seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman Fears Iran may close the strategically vital oil route through the Strait of Hormuz has prompted the United Arab Emirates to seek an alternate route to export its product. OPEC’s third largest exporter of oil has almost finished constructing a pipeline that will allow it to reroute much of its oil exports, bypassing the Straits. Twenty per cent of the... 

As the US beefs up its military presence in the Persian Gulf region, Pentagon strategists estimate that they would need less than a month to defeat Iranian forces should a military conflict take place. US Central Command (CENTCOM) believes it can destroy or significantly degrade Iran’s conventional armed forces in about three weeks using air and sea strikes, a defense source told The Washington... 

The US is sending an amphibious assault group and a couple of thousand US Marines to the Persian Gulf. With another US carrier making its way to Iran’s doorstep, US military still insist that this is a “regularly scheduled deployment”. ­The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group is comprised of amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, amphibious transport dock USS New York, and amphibious dock landing... 

An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites may quickly spiral out of control and result in a large regional war, a Pentagon war game predicts. American casualties would be counted in hundreds at least. The two-week game held by Central Command called Internal Look played on a scenario in which Israel carried out an air strike on Iranian facilities. In retaliation Iran strikes both the Jewish state... 

Washington is planning to deploy even more ships, subs and choppers to the Persian Gulf despite the fact that it already stations aircraft carriers in the region. This was confirmed by Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan W. Greenert. ­Speaking during a Friday breakfast in Washington, Greenert told reporters about the bold plans to deploy more patrol boats, minesweepers, Sea Stallion helicopters and... 

Scout in the Persian Gulf, March 2008 The US Navy has confirmed it is doubling the number of minesweepers in the Persian Gulf in an apparent move to prepare for a possible standoff with Iran over the crucial oil export route. An additional four minesweeper and four minesweeping helicopters will join the four ships already patrolling the Persian Gulf. The overall number of US minesweepers in the region... 

USS Enterprise is the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise has set sail on its final voyage, heading to the Persian Gulf. The Enterprise left Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia on Sunday on its seven-month mission. The US oldest active-duty warship will be on standby in case of conflict with Iran, CNN reported. “Enterprise is as... 

New British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Daring, the first of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyers. The United Kingdom has reportedly drawn up plans to send hundreds of troops and an extra nuclear submarine to the Persian Gulf amid escalating war threats against the Islamic Republic. “MoD planners went into overdrive at the start of the year. Conflict is seen as inevitable as long as the regime... 

This file photo shows an Iranian submarine in the Persian Gulf. A top US commander says that the Iranian military has beefed up its naval forces in the Persian Gulf by increasing submarines and preparing suicide boats. “They have increased the number of submarines… they increased the number of fast attack craft,” the head of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, Vice Admiral Mark Fox, said... 

Two ships of the US Navy, the nuclear submarine USS Annapolis and the destroyer USS Momsen have passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Although their destination is confidential, they are now getting dangerously close to the Persian Gulf. ­The ships’ passage was a major operation for the Suez administration as due to safety reasons they had to close off the canal to all other traffic and... 

Iranian Navy warships take part in maneuvers during the "Velayat-90" navy exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. Tensions in the Gulf could reach a breaking point as a senior Iranian official said Iran would “definitely” close the Strait of Hormuz if an EU oil embargo disrupted the export of crude oil, the semi-official Fars news agency reports. The announcement came in response... 

The military showdown in the Persian Gulf seems even more inevitable, with the UK foreign secretary not ruling out military action against Iran. Applying even more pressure to the country, Europe may ban Iranian oil imports by the end of the month. ­The UK will continue to pursue a diplomatic solution to bringing Iran to the negotiating table, although, according to the UK Foreign Secretary William... 

USS Abraham Lincoln and its battle group is on its way to the Persian Gulf as the US builds up military presence around Iran. The US and Israel cancel a joint military drill, which was originally scheduled to be held in spring, in what seems to be a sign of deepening rifts between the age-old allies. On January 5, Israeli military announced that Tel Aviv is gearing up for a major missile defense exercise,... 

The United States is not at war with Iran yet, but just in case, the Pentagon says they want to be prepared. To do so, the Department of Defense has dispatched 15,000 troops to the neighboring nation of Kuwait. Gen. James Mattis, the Marine Corps head that rules over the US Central Command, won approval late last year from the White House to deploy the massive surge to the tiny West Asian country... 

USS Carl Vinson The US is deploying more warships to the Persian Gulf area, with the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson entering the Arabian Sea. Washington is also winning over Japan and India in the oil sanction war against Iran. The Pentagon denies the USS Carl Vinson has been dispatched to the Gulf region over the Strait of Hormuz tensions. “Her deployment in that area is routine, long-planned...