For Russia and NATO, the year of maneuvering dangerously continues

Tu-22M3 Backfire, on the loose again. (Image: Alex Beltyukov via the Aviationist)

New post up at Liberty Unyielding.  Enjoy!

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Iran: Funniest threats ever?

In Iran’s crosshairs. Sort of.

To begin with, let’s agree that it is not funny that Iran’s making threats.  It’s the way Iran is making threats.  Which – I’m sorry – has me in stitches.

No, really.  It isn’t funny.  It’s just hard not to laugh.

To read a full-length treatment of the latest Iranian trash talk, see this excellent summary from Times of Israel.  I’ll address the two major rhetorical jabs in turn.

Maritime notes: Russia, Nigeria, Greece, etc.

A few comments on what’s going on at sea.

Nigeria, Russia, and a private-security ship

Earlier this month, Nigerian authorities seized a ship operated by the Moran Security Group.  In the usual manner, the ship, M/V Myre Seadiver, is flagged by the Cook Islands, was built in Norway in the 1960s, was Norwegian owned and flagged for most of its life, and is now owned and operated by Moran Security Group in Moscow.  The entire crew, according to media reporting, is Russian.  The ship is accused of arms trafficking.

Awesome news: Iran to deploy naval task force to the Atlantic Ocean

It is one of Dyer’s Axioms that a nation doesn’t change its naval posture because it is content with the status quo.  Iran continues to validate the axiom, and the latest announcement from her busy naval leadership is that the Islamic Republic will deploy a naval task force to the Atlantic in the near future as “part of a program to ply international waters.”

The development is not surprising, considering that Iran has maintained an antipiracy task force presence off Somalia for nearly three years now, sent a two-ship task force on an expedition to Syria earlier this year, and announced the deployment of a submarine to the Red Sea in June.

Granted,