Iranian tanker taken under missile attack in the Persia Gulf

[Deleted member]

Well, MBS seems to understand the idea of Letters of Marque and Reprisal.

No claim of responsibility, of course, but it’s obvious one of the Gulf Arab states did it unless Iran in fact attacked their own ship as a justification for further provocations.

 

[GoldRanger]

Oh great, we now have an almost full fledged war between Iran and Saudi Arabia + the gulf countries

All the actors are playing a dangerous game here, for now it's occasional tit for tat attacks, but unless this stops it's only a matter of time before an incident blows up to something more serious.

 

[Scottty]

Oh great, we now have an almost full fledged war between Iran and Saudi Arabia + the gulf countries

All the actors are playing a dangerous game here, for now it's occasional tit for tat attacks, but unless this stops it's only a matter of time before an incident blows up to something more serious.

Does either have the capability to end such a war by defeating the other?
Saddam Hussien's Iraq had a bigger army than do the Saudis, but Iran was able to hold them off.

 

[Deleted member]

Does either have the capability to end such a war by defeating the other?
Saddam Hussien's Iraq had a bigger army than do the Saudis, but Iran was able to hold them off.

I don't trust the Saudis to be able to stop the Iranians alone or in combination with the Gulf States. Of course, the Iranians would need to get an invasion corridor through Iraq; they certainly couldn't effect a lodgement on the Saudi coast. Really, if a war were to break out it would probably be of limited decision, i.e., a War of the Oil Rigs to drive up oil prices and impact the economies of the rival.

But any such conflict would draw the US in.

 

[Marduk]

Does either have the capability to end such a war by defeating the other?
Saddam Hussien's Iraq had a bigger army than do the Saudis, but Iran was able to hold them off.

Saudis and Iran don't share a border. It would be either 150+ km through Iraq or Iraq and Kuweit, or convincing Qatar to be an invasion launchpad, which would probably mean death for the local rulers in case of a loss, so they would think twice about that offer. In either case, it would take a lot of troops, a massive logistical trail, and as such, perfect excuse and opportunity for US aircraft to scrap the Iranian military as it has to move and conduct combat operations through many massive open areas.

 

[GoldRanger]

An aerial, naval and cruise/ballistic missile war can be devastating enough in its own right.