Iran: ally, friend or enemy? (2015 onwards)

[AdamG]

A commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday warned that the U.S. will “receive a strong slap in the face” if it underestimates Iran's military power.
"The enemy should not be mistaken in its assessments, and it will receive a strong slap in the face if it does make such a mistake," General Mohammad Pakpour said, according to remarks on the group's website, as reported by Reuters. "Everyone could see today what power we have on the ground."
Iranian officials have been warning the U.S. of their country’s military might since initiating a series of ballistic missile tests last month. Tehran claims its tests are for defensive purposes only, but President Trump put Iran “on notice” and vowed a response.

http://thehill.com/policy/internatio...ap-in-the-face

[AdamG]

Ignore the partisan distractions by the Associated Press, since this film's four-year long production (which had to be state sanctioned) illustrates just how much smoke-and-mirrors Tehran was serious about 'rapprochement'.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — In a climactic battle at sea, an Iranian commander orders his forces to open fire on a much larger U.S. fleet, obliterating it with a barrage of rockets, some of which tear American flags from their masts.
The scenario unfolds in "Battle of the Persian Gulf II," a new Iranian animated film more than four years in the making that imagines a devastating response to an American attack on the country's nuclear program.
It might have seemed out of date this time last year, when a nuclear accord reached with world powers had lifted sanctions and raised hopes for a broader rapprochement between Iran and the West.

https://apnews.com/6343bea57e224da8b6e30f46a994415f

[AdamG]

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran denied on Saturday U.S. accusations that its fast-attack boats were "harassing" warships at the mouth of the Gulf, and said Washington would be responsible for any clashes in the key oil shipping route.
U.S. Navy commanders earlier accused Iran of jeopardizing international navigation by "harassing" warships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and said future incidents could result in miscalculation and lead to an armed clash.
They spoke after the U.S. aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush confronted what one of the commanding officers described as two sets of Iranian Navy fast-attack boats that had approached a U.S.-led, five-vessel flotilla as it entered the Strait on Tuesday on a journey from the Indian Ocean into the Gulf.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/iran-denie...190717179.html