Yeah, its sabre rattling. There are several reasons for it. One reason is to manipulate the price of oil in their favor. Another reason is to deter some countries from participating in the economic sanctions. Yet another reason is to make the theocracy look strong, y'know, for domestic consumption. The Iranian government is just as afraid of the Iranian people as they are afraid of attack by Israel or whomever. I've gotta say though, that video yesterday of 3 or 4 small Iranian Navy boats trailing a USN ship was astonishing. I'm surprised the USN let them get that close. There must be some very restrictive rules-of-engagement in place or somebody exercised alot of restraint. It was a very small boat that blew a huge hole in the USS Cole.
Interestingly, Global Firepower ranks Iran at no.11 in the world: http://www.globalfirepower.com/ Incidentally, Afghanistan is ranked down at no.51 and that wasn't over in a day or even a month. Both Russia (ranked no.2) and China (ranked no.3) are strongly against an attack on Iran and will likely consider any such attack a threat to their own security. Some Bingoogling produced: "A professor from the Chinese National Defense University says that China should not hesitate to protect Iran, even if it means launching world war three" China is Iran's largest trading partner. Iran is China's second largest source of oil imports. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/l-3xeP7NFRE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> In short, any war with Iran, will also most likely mean war directly or by proxy with Syria, China and Russia. Food for thought.
Well, I wanted to go thru this thread to see if Iran had any Delta four class subs, at least. Even Akula class, old as they are, but they don't. Thus, this article is pure propaganda. This a joke. Unless, of course this story is out to scare the plebs into another war. That is what I suspect. Iran has no similar technology and the Russians have not given it to them either, so this is silly.
I think many of you are taking the Iranian naval threat far too lightly. First, Russia and China would be very unlikely to interven directly. They are too smart to get their own hands dirty. They could provide sophisticated weapons and intell, maybe use cyber or jamming to disrupt our drones and satellites, etc. Second, you may find the Iranian submarine threat a big joke but I seriously doubt our Navy does. These modern diesel subs are basically undetectable. They can sit on the ocean floor silently. They can dispense mines that have digital sensors that are triggered by particular ship props. They can utilize modern long range wake following torpedoes that are essentially undefeatable once they lock on. They can launch cruise missiles. Yes, our Navy can eventually detect and destroy them, but at what cost. And don't forget, it's not like the Navy won't have other threats to worry about, such as long range ground to ship missiles and swarms of sea-skimming missiles launched from fast boats.
Iran is a practical nation as far as Muslim nations go. The population is well educated, it's government sophisticated. A war with Israel is a war with the West. Ultimately, Iran will lose it's sovereignty, either to the US or to Russia or China. This is saber rattling. Kinda like when Newt talks about food stamp presidents People underestimate Mahmoud. He won't go to war unless we absolutely push them into the deepest of corners, which some around the world do think we are trying to do. An Israeli attack against Iran with our backing is the start of WWIII, which no one will win. Nope. This is alll saber rattling.
If the average astute business person is aware of the cat's paw, do you think US intel is not. Depending on what Iran displays, we will know the cat that gave it to them. Russia and China have told the US to stand down. The US will of course send another carrier to the region as a show of Empire. But no one will fire a shot.