Iran condemns new French military base in Persian Gulf
Today Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini criticized France for setting up a permanent military base in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), just across the water from Iran.
The base, housing 400 to 500 personnel, will keep France within reach of sea-lanes through which forty percent of global oil shipments pass. France will now become the only NATO member other than the US that has military bases in the Gulf.
Most of France’s foreign bases are in Africa, where they crush native revolts against corporate mining interests. (France engineered the Rwandan genocide for this purpose.)
Sarkozy visited the UAE to sign the deal on 15 Jan 08 -- a week after the encounter between U.S. warships and Iranian speedboats. The French base in the UAE will be fully operational by 2009.
(How would France react if Iran set up a new base near the French coast?)
From Feb. 23 to March 5, 2008, France will hold its first war games in the Persian Gulf.
Dubbed "Gulf Shield 01," the exercise will take place in UAE territory and international waters near the Strait of Hormuz. It will involve 1,500 French, 2,500 Emirate, and 1,300 Qatari personnel on land, sea, and air. The exercise, led by French Vice Admiral Jacques Mazars, will involve six warships (including a French aircraft carrier), plus 40 aircraft, and dozens of armored vehicles. It will include simulated Iranian attacks on oil platforms.
France and the UAE signed a reciprocal defense accord in 1995, in which their armed forces chiefs meet once a year, and their army troops conduct around 25 joint maneuvers per year. This newest exercise will be the largest yet, and will be the first combined air, land, and sea operation.
France has long been the main arms supplier to the UAE, and has had troops in the UAE for years, but now France will have a permanent base. French arms sales include the Mirage 2000-9 jet fighter, AMX-30 Leclerc main battle tanks, and a large variety of Eurocopter helicopters.
France also trains officers from the region, and will open a branch of its Saint Cyr military academy in Qatar.
France also has signed a deal to supply the UAE with nuclear energy. Earlier, France signed nuclear deals with Libya and Algeria, and now wants to sign a nuclear deal with Arabia.
Outside of Iraq, the United States has about 40,000 U.S. troops on bases across the Gulf, including the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. The British military also has a small presence in the Gulf. The Royal Air Force operates out of Al Udeid, a U.S. air force base in Qatar, and is part of the coalition naval task force based in Bahrain.
Last week, France summoned Iran’s ambassador (Ali Ahani) for a scolding after Ahmadinejad said the days of the "filthy Zionist entity" were numbered.
Iran responded by summoning the France ambassador Bernard Poletti for a scolding.
‘So far, our policies regarding France and their unfriendly stances have been restrained, but if they continue this trend, we will also review our stances,’ said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini.
France became extremely hostile toward Iran when electronic voting machines installed (Jewish) President Nicolas Sarkozy in May 2007. Four months later, (Jewish) foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said the entire world should prepare for a war with Iran.
Last Thursday, French Defense Minister Herve Morin said the American NIE report was incorrect in saying Iran has no nuclear weapons program.
China wants to secure its oil and liquefied gas cargo ships through the narrow Strait of Hormuz. It is not happy about the new French base, and is talking about putting a possible Chinese base at one of Iran's Persian Gulf ports, or on an Iranian island.
In addition, China regards the recent nuclear agreements between Bush and India to be a long-term initiative to contain China.
Presently, China's strategy is confined to the port city of Gwadar along the southwestern coast of Pakistan in Balochistan province, strategically located near the Hormuz Strait. However Musahraff, as a Bush employee, will not let China build a base in Pakistan. Therefore China will need a base in Iran.
France enjoys observer status at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), headed by China and Russia. Iran's bid to join the SCO has been stalled, partly as a result of the standoff over its nuclear program, but increasing French aggression will change that.
China has already surpassed Germany as Iran's number one trade partner. Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner, has just finalized a multi-billion dollar deal to develop the giant Yadavaran oil field, in addition to the "deal of the century" contract for natural gas from Iran's immense North Pars field.
Chinese contractors are busy constructing oil terminals for Iran in the Caspian Sea. They are also extending the Tehran metro, and building airports, among other projects.
Meanwhile China sells arms to Iran, including ballistic-missile technology and air-defense radars.
It's like watching a grand chess game unfold on the world stage.
All the pieces are coming together for world domination.
In the meantime, us peons are simmering over a medium flame, never knowing when the next "terror attack" will hit and slowly but surely being squeezed out of our own meager existence through constant price hikes for the products we need to survive.
Slowly but surely, Americans are being prepared for the final devastating blow that will overcome us so completely, that is will leave us bewildered and unsure of how it happened.
---------------------------------------
"Money" has no value - people do.
"Meanwhile China sells arms to Iran, including ballistic-missile technology and air-defense radars."
Some of this technology is probably reversed-engineered military technology products from the U.S. that we originally gave to Israel, who in turn, sold to China, who in turn, sold to Iran.
Yes, back in December 2006 I wrote a post that discusses how U.S. weapons technology passes through Israel to China, and then to Iran.