Iranian Strategic and Operational Planning Against the United States.

Abstract

The Arabian Gulf is a vital interest to the U.S., its allies and the world economy. To Iran it represents the arena in which it can regain its once held regional power and secure the economic resources to rebuild an unstable infrastructure. It will ultimately determine the nation's future. Iran likely believes it can achieve its strategic objective of higher oil prices by forcing the withdrawal of U.S. regional military presence, after which it can exert its influence on OPEC and the world market. Plausible Iranian planning towards this end must include interdependent political/diplomatic and military elements. The initial political element could exploit Gulf Arab conciliatory tendencies, outside pressure and intimidation to isolate the U.S. and deny it forward basing rights. The military element could succeed in inflicting enough damage on U.S. naval forces over a sufficient period if properly sequenced and synchronized at the right location. If planned considering the elements of operational design, using U.S. planning methodology against its enemy, Iran could be successful.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA325133

Entities

People

  • John I. Kittle

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Foreign Policy
  • Foreign Relations
  • International Organizations
  • Middle East
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Persian Gulf
  • Public Relations
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Security
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Strategic Security Studies