How Iran Attacks
A look at an adversary in the global war on terrorism
by Capt John A. Tempone, Jr.
The U.S. National Security Strategy of 2006 identifies the
Islamic Republic of Iran as the greatest state threat to the
United States. As the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world1 and as a nation in pursuit of
weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Iran has crossed a critical
threshold in regard to the national security of the United States. It is
the intersection of state-sponsored terrorism and the pursuit of
WMD that poses the greatest threat to the United States today. 2 Iran
is reported to be in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is accused by the United States and other nations of playing a large role
in Israel’s current standoff with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in
Lebanon, as well as the instability in Iraq. It should come as no surprise that tensions with Iran have escalated dramatically. 3 Likewise,
U.S. forces forward deployed in the Central Command area of operations (CentCom AO) should not allow themselves to be surprised
by the most likely enemy courses of action should the current violence spread outside of the Israel/Lebanon area and target U.S. forces.
Although war is by no means inevitable, forward deployed military leaders must be prepared for an escalation of force in the
CentCom AO. A military confrontation with Iran is not likely to
be a conventional battle akin to Operation DESERT STORM, with
large set piece armor and infantry engagements. Rather, it will be
a continuation of what has been an ongoing “cold war,” characterized by asymmetrical tactics (i.e., terrorist attacks against the
United States and her allies in the region) and proxy warfare in
Iraq. The likeliness of this course of action is based on the Iranian
military’s current capabilities and historical analysis of Iranian force
employment.
Background on U.S.-Iran Relations
In February 1979 America’s strongest ally in the Middle East
region, Iran, dissolved in the chaos of an Islamic revolution. Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled Tehran amidst the collapse of his
army. With his departure, so went a “pillar” of U.S. security in the
Arabian Gulf. The following November Iranian students stormed
the U.S. Embassy, seizing 66 American hostages and leading to
over two decades of hostility between the United States and the
new Islamic Republic of Iran. 4
The hostage crisis was the pivotal event that sparked a cold war
between the United States and Iran. For 27 years this war has persisted, with violent and deadly flareups. Iran has confronted the
United States and its allies indirectly through terrorist proxies in
Lebanon and directly in the Persian Gulf during the Tanker War of
1987–88. The most visible manifestations of this low-intensity
conflict were the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut in
1983, resulting in the deaths of 241 U.S. military personnel; Operation PRAYING MANTIS in 1988 (the heaviest engagement between Iran and the United States during the Tanker War); and the
1996 terrorist bombing of Khobar Towers in which 19 U.S. servicemembers lost their lives.
There were times marked by détente. The early and mid-1990s
in particular displayed a thaw in U.S.-Iranian relations stemming
from the Iranian assistance in the release of American hostages in
Lebanon. This period also saw a reformist Iranian President, Mohammad Khatemi, who announced that there should be a “
dialogue among civilizations,” hinting at a normalization of relations
between Iran and the United States. Unfortunately this period of
hope, when both sides seemed poised to embrace dialogue, was
Photo: The Persian Gulf region. Will operations expand? (Photo courtesy of visibleearth.nasa.gov.)
