New York: Tensions between Iran and the United States, never far from the surface, showed signs of worsening on Wednesday, with the Iranians threatening to block a vital Gulf access route and protesting what they called the American “meddling approach and tone.”
The Iranian messages, conveyed in statements by a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and by the Foreign Ministry, came a few days after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, expressed exasperation with the United States, questioning the long-standing deployment of the Navy’s 5th Fleet in the Gulf.
“It is Americans who should explain why they have come here from the other side of the world and stage war games,” the ayatollah said in remarks widely reported in Iran’s state news media.
Together, the messages appeared to reflect a steady buildup of anti-American sentiment in Iran recently despite the nuclear agreement that took effect in January, which on paper at least eased the country’s economic isolation. American and Iranian diplomats had hoped the agreement would help lead to a new period of detente in the estranged relations between their countries.
But the Iranians have not yet benefited economically and have accused the United States of obstructing their ability to do business and attract investments, in part because of other US financial restrictions unaffected by the nuclear agreement.
“Iran is not experiencing the benefits it envisioned after sanctions relief,” said Alireza Nader, an Iran expert at the Washington offices of the RAND Corp., a research group. The increasingly angry tone from Iranian leaders, he said, can be partly traced to “Iran signaling its displeasure” about that problem.
The Iranians also have taken note of efforts by some lawmakers in Washington who opposed the nuclear agreement and who have warned against a resumption of commercial dealings with Iran.
On Monday, for example, three members of Congress sent a letter to Boeing’s chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg, urging him “in the strongest possible terms” not to execute any sales to Iran, which the company is considering after meeting with Iranian aviation officials last month. Boeing has not commented on the letter but has acknowledged opening discussions with Iran.
The Iranians also have been seething over an April 20 Supreme Court ruling that permitted the use of nearly $2 billion in seized Iranian assets to compensate American victims of overseas attacks that US officials have attributed to Iran despite its denials. Iran remains on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, another sore point with the Iranians.
Last week, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, known for his good relations with Secretary of State John Kerry and for advocating improved relations with the United States, wrote to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations, calling the ruling a crime and an example of American arrogance.
The warning from the Revolutionary Guards about blocking American access to the Gulf waterway known as the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping route, appeared to be partly a response to a congressional resolution introduced April 28 by J. Randy Forbes, a Republican from Virginia.
The resolution condemned what it called Iran’s illegal detention of American sailors patrolling near Iran in January and said Iran had “undermined stability in the Arabian Gulf.”
The use of the term “Arabian Gulf” has long irritated Iran, which bans publications that do not use “Persian Gulf” to describe the body of water.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Fars News Agency, which has links to the Revolutionary Guards, said Lt. Cmdr. Brig. Gen. Hussain Salami had issued a warning to the United States to avoid escalation.
“Iran will decisively confront any menacing passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Fars quoted him as saying. “We warn the Americans not to repeat their past mistakes and they should learn from historical realities.”
In what appeared to be a coordinated message, the Foreign Ministry delivered a note of protest Wednesday to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests. The official Tasnim News Agency said the note, referring to Forbes’ resolution, “slammed Washington’s meddling in the security affairs of the Persian Gulf and strongly objected to the use of a fake name for the body of water in a resolution proposed by a US congressman last week.”
Political analysts in the United States noted that the Strait of Hormuz has long been a potential flashpoint for US-Iranian animosity, but questioned whether Iran would risk a military confrontation by closing it or denying American access.
Eugene Gholz, a public affairs professor at the University of Texas and a former Pentagon adviser, played down Iran’s umbrage at the use of the term ‘Arabian Gulf’.
“Nobody is seriously going to contemplate fighting a war over that,” he said. But he added that he did not rule out further escalation, saying, “People who are looking for an excuse to fight will find something.”