Tension is rising in the Persian Gulf after Iran once again tested long-range missiles and a senior army officer warned the US to keep its aircraft carriers out of the region. The warning, reported by the semi-official Fars news agency, did not name the American vessel but claimed it had left the area due to Iranian naval exercises taking place in the Gulf over the past ten days.
The Persian Gulf, in Western Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran (Persia) and the Arabian Peninsula.
The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers. In 1991, the Persian Gulf again w...
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Iran (/ɪˈrɑːn/; Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", comes from the earlier Airy-Ana or Air-an, which in Persian means...
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The Strait of Hormuz /hɔrˈmuːz/ (Arabic: مَضيق هُرمُز Maḍīq Hurmuz, Persian: تَنگِه هُرمُز Tangeh-ye Hormoz) is a narrow, strategically important strait between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the U...
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A military exercise (also called war game in American English) is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. Exercises in the 20th century have often been identi...
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Numerous nations and multinational entities impose sanctions against Iran. Sanctions commonly bar nuclear, missile and certain military exports to Iran; investments in oil, gas and petrochemicals; exports of refined petroleum products; business dealings with the Iranian Republ...
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The nuclear program of Iran was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program. The participation of the United States and Western European governments in Iran's nuclear program continued until the 1979 Iranian Revolution that t...
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Political relations between Iran and the United States began in the mid-to-late 19th century. Initially, while Iran was very wary of British and Russian colonial interests during the Great Game, the United States was seen as a more trustworthy Western power, and the Americans ...
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In a modern military, a missile is a self-propelled guided weapon system. Missiles have four system components: targeting and/or guidance, flight system, engine, and warhead. Missiles come in types adapted for different purposes: surface-to-surface and air-to-surface (ballisti...
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The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN), also known as the Iranian Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran's armed forces. The IRIN has traditionally been the smallest branch of the Iranian military and is tasked mainly with securing Iran's p...
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An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operation...
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The 27 members of the European Union may be on the brink of announcing an embargo on Iranian oil. The deal could be reached as early as the end of this month as it appears there is already agreement in principle, with just the dates remaining to ...
The European Union has agreed in principle to ban all oil imports from Iran. The question is, who will be hurt more should the EU proceed with its latest economic sanctions against Tehran? With guests Michael Mann, David Fitzpatrick, and Manoucheh...