US Putting Iran ‘on Notice’ After Missile Launch, Houthi Attacks

On January 30, Fox News reported, citing USA officials, that Iran had conducted tests of its medium-range ballistic missiles.

President Donald Trump’s White House officially put Iran on notice for more consequences if the regime has more tests.

Flynn added that Iran’s actions threaten stability in the region and place American lives at risk, and said Iran was “on notice”. “The question is: Are they prepared to do carry through with it”.

President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Flynn condemned Wednesday Iran’s recent ballistic missile test launch, calling it a “provocative” breach of a UN Security Council resolution.

In a vast departure from the Obama White House, the Trump administration went on record Wednesday to accuse Iran of being in violation of the landmark nuclear agreement as a result of its recent test of ballistic missile technology, according to a senior White House official, who said that Iran has officially been put “on notice”. “While Flynn’s remarks could be construed as simply bluster, they will beget an Iranian response which in turn will beget further threats by the U.S. At some point, this escalatory cycle that started with bluster may end in war”.

Retired Gen. Flynn called out Iran for its “destabilizing behavior” and said that Trump has “severely criticized” the Obama’s nuclear arms deal with Tehran.

Later Wednesday, Trump tweeted: “Iran is rapidly taking over more and more of Iraq even after the USA has squandered three trillion dollars there”. Tehran says its missiles do not breach United Nations resolutions because they are for defence purposes only and are not created to carry nuclear warheads.

A top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country would not yield to “useless” US threats from “an inexperienced person” over its ballistic missile programme.

In the infamous “Gulf of Tonkin incident”, as it is often referred to, the White House and the Pentagon accused North Vietnamese forces of attacking a Navy destroyer, the Maddox, on August 4, 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam.

On the surface, the idea of reinstating USA sanctions on Iran certainly seems like it would be good for US oil prices. It also did not rule out a military response.

Corker also said it’s “too early to talk about military options”.

“It does not have the specificity to move markets”, he said. “The lack of clarity is unsafe”, Rubin said. “It could encourage Iran to test the “red line” because it is not defined”.

“Iran is rapidly taking over more and more of Iraq even after the USA has squandered three trillion dollars there”. Warships regularly transit the region, and a carrier strike group is heading there now on a normal rotation.

Ali Akbar Velayati said United States threats were aimed at limiting Iran’s defensive capabilities.

A spokesman for the U.S. Central Command clarified that it has “not been asked to change anything operationally” and that, for now, changes were “still at a policy level”. “That doesn’t mean we would not in the future”.

The drills are created to “ensure the free flow of commerce” through waterways of strategic interest to the entire world, the US Navy release said.