They don't have to align with Iran in a specific defense of Iran's trying to close the sea lanes...just to escort Iranian cargo ships. ...that are being used to ferry Iranian missiles to terrorists.

That's not a Panda-face kind of thing to do, right? That's more of a Dragon-face kind of thing to do. They won't go Dragon-face until they're ready to hit Taiwan and subjugate more of the Philippines.

They'd be willing to do that for a naval base on the Gulf, any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

If they wanted a Chinese naval base in Iran, they could have one any time they want by merely making lots of Port Calls in Bandar-e Abbas. While they were there they'd helpfully pay for port upgrades.

But what about an Iranian-flagged ship? They're under no obligation to let the US board them - and they won't. What then?

Watch it head to port and record what cargo gets offloaded from it. Follow the missiles allll the way to the launcher. Then have an airstrike take out the missiles and the Iranian techs loading them.

After that you go to the UN and say, "Iran is now directly involved in attacks on Red Sea shipping". Then you have the legal juice to declare a maritime exclusion zone around Yemen where all ships are required to stop for inspection.

What's Iran going to say? By being belligerent they gave away the store. There's value in provoking that kind of response out of them.

Or they'll just smuggle them in overland.

Even better! A Green Beret team illuminates the truck with a laser, and that's that.

US Policy FAQ

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