Iran and the US Navy are engaged in a game of cat and mouse in the Arabian Gulf, with Iran posting drone footage of a US aircraft carrier last week with the US releasing footage of the Iranian drone in return.
On Sunday, the US released an image of the same Iranian drone, taken from nearby US aircraft.
“Aircraft from Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Air Wing intercepts an Iranian UAV operating in an unsafe and unprofessional manner during aircraft carrier flight operations in the Arabian Gulf,” US Centom, the headquarters of the US force in the Middle East wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“The US Navy will continue to fly and sail where international law allows,” it added.
The US has increased naval forces in the area since the October 7 attack into southern Israel amid fears the war could ignite the Middle East.
US missile destroyers, including the USS Carney and USS Thomas Hudson, have already intercepted ballistic missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi militias in the Red Sea, as well as missiles and drones fired directly at the ships. The Houthis have declared war on Israel and have fired ballistic missiles at targets in the country.
The Arabian Gulf, particularly the narrow stretch of water at the Straits of Hormuz, 55km across at its narrowest, has long been a concern for the US. Iran threatened to close it off in response to US sanctions on Iranian oil.
About 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply moves through the straits.
The US Navy is said to be highly vulnerable in the shallow and narrow waterways of Hormuz, where Iran could place hundreds of small and agile missile boats in a bid to overwhelm US defences in a swarm attack.
Iran also has thousands of shore-launched ballistic missiles and drones that could also overwhelm the formidable air defences in a US aircraft carrier group.
The US has in recent years invested heavily in countering these threats, mounting the Aegis missile defence system, which has successfully downed Houthi ballistic missiles, on vessels in the carrier strike group,
Other defences include the Phalanx close-in weapon system, a rapid-firing cannon that can fire at targets at a rate of 50 shells per second. It has now been adapted to be equipped to target small speed boats of the kind used by Iran.
US aircraft are also expected to deploy cluster bombs and laser-guided rockets to destroy the small vessels, but analysts fear an attack involving a combination of boats, drones and missiles could overwhelm defences.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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