For a country that takes such great and repeated pains to profess its peaceful intentions, Iran was behaving pretty aggressively over the weekend when five Revolutionary Guard speedboats provoked US warships in the Straits of Hormuz.
A Pentagon official said of the Iranians, “They were a heartbeat away from being blown up.”
We hope, but we’re not so sure.
According to the White House, the 20-minute confrontation in international waters began with the Iranians approaching a US Navy destroyer, frigate and cruiser while showing “hostile intent.”
One of the Iranian boats, the Pentagon reports, radioed a US ship: “I am coming at you. You will blow up in a couple of minutes.”
Shades of the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole – and of the suicide bombing in Aden harbor that killed 17 US sailors and injured scores in 2000.
The speedboats came to within pistol shot of the warships – which, according to news reports, were “literally” on the verge of opening fire when the Iranians broke off.
Why the Navy let the boats come that close is a complete mystery. It was also a mistake – one that we profoundly hope will never be repeated.
No doubt, Iran was trying to send a message to President Bush as he prepared for his first extended trip to the Middle East, including visits to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The region is increasingly doubtful of America’s willingness to confront Tehran, especially in light of the recent National Intelligence Estimate, which concluded that Iran halted its nuclear-weapons program in 2003.
Bush has gone out of his way to send his own message that his commitment to halt development of an Iranian bomb – and rein in Tehran’s support of terrorism – hasn’t flagged.
In interviews with Israeli media over the weekend, he vowed that the United States would defend Israel against any attack from Iran “without ifs or buts” – and warned that such action would provoke an international conflagration.
But credibility requires more than rhetoric.
Some Arab nations, perhaps not unreasonably, seem to believe Washington has lost its will. Iran, after all, is still enriching uranium and testing long-range missiles – hardly indicative of a nation that insists it wants nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
Coming close aboard US warships in international waters is a provocation of a much lower order, to be sure – but it is an unacceptable provocation nevertheless.
The next time Tehran tries it, there needs to be a message sent; naval gunfire will get the job done neatly enough.