15/01 Indices, page-60

Israel and US are both already very much involved in this, forcing Iran to respond, which doesn't help calming the situation. I hate to take side with the Mullahs, but here is what happened in regards to the recent events. First we had the news headline of Iran hijacking a U.S. oil tanker. The full story: last April, US seized the Suez Rajan tanker carrying 1 million barrels of Iranian oil, and sold its cargo. US position is that its domestic law, in this case sanctions against Iran, is internationally enforceable, hence justifying the seizure. Iran called it piracy, and a court order was issued to take back the tanker. The tanker which was later renamed, happened to be sailing near Iranian waters last week. Iran moved in and got back the tanker along with its oil cargo.

The second incident was Iran launching missile attacks against targets in Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria. Full story: Israel has been ramping up targeting Iranian army personnel in Syria in recent weeks. There has also been a terrorist attack last week in Iran for which ISIS claimed responsibility. Iran responded by missile attacks targeting a Kurdish businessman known for his ties to Israel and allegedly coordinating Israeli espionage program against Iran in Iraqi Kurdistan. The missile attack in Syria was seemingly against ISIS targets in retaliation for the earlier terrorist attack.

So it's all part of the proxy war that has been going on between US, Israel, and Iran. The question is whether they will get dragged into direct confrontation. I'd say probably not, at least at this stage. But if they keep provoking each other, things can suddenly go out of control over an incident.