The Ministry of Defence believes the US may decide to fast-forward plans for targeted missile strikes on some key Iranian facilities.
And, says the Guardian, British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help, despite deep reservations within the coalition government.
British military planners are said to be examining where to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles over coming months as part of what would be an air and sea campaign.
They also believe the US would ask permission to launch attacks from Diego Garcia, the British Indian ocean territory.
Iran has been the big bad boogie man, always on the edge of being invaded, at least for the 12 years I’ve been taking an interest in things. You could block the Straights of Hormuz with a couple of 12 foot dingies, an oil tanker is an easy target. The ‘west’ could run out of oil to run a decent war let alone maintain an economy, and in the end maintaining an economy is the name of the game. I just can’t see ‘them’ running the risk of destroying so much oil infrastructure, especially as China (the country lending the USA money) is dependent on Iranian oil. It is probably the stuff floating up on Mt Maunganui beach. Iranian oil is thick toxic stuff, China doesn’t mind burning it to make flat screen TVs for the west.
There might be more money in maintaining Iran as the bad guy, than blowing it back a hundred years or so, like has just happened in Libya. Iran is the reason to maintain US basses in the middle east, if the US bought ‘democracy’ to all of the middle east they would have to leave, so better keep up pretences and have Mr Bag Guy lurking in the back ground, if nothing else it gives speculators something to write about.