by admin on October 20, 2013
The idea of a uniformly hostile Iran has been baked into America’s strategic framework for decades–almost a generation. But the prospect of a thaw in the long-running Iranian-US Cold War would be fascinating–transforming the entire Arabian Gulf. If–IF–tensions recede, what will this mean? I threw together a few thoughts and questions for discussion: 1. U.S. […]
by Craig Hooper on July 16, 2010
File on 4, an award-winning news show on the BBC , sat down with me last week to discuss illegal arms traffic. Part of the conversation turned to Iran’s appetite for high-performance boats, and that’s the piece that made it into this week’s File on 4 documentary. Allan Urry and the rest of the BBC […]
by Craig Hooper on April 6, 2010
And coverage of Iran’s small-craft acquisition continues. Out of all the rehashing, the Globe and Mail’s Paul Koring generated a standout Bladerunner story, with some interesting info on the Bladerunner craft itself and some added background on the small boat threat: “…The Tamil Tigers attacked cargo vessels with explosives-laden launches with some success. Against Sri […]
by Craig Hooper on April 5, 2010
I recently had the pleasure of talking to a Financial Times reporter about Iran’s appetite for small boats. The story, dealing with the saga of the “Bradstone Challenger“, a Bladerunner 51 speedboat, just hit the press today (and it got some love from Drudge (bottom middle column), so…good times). (.pdf here) I noted Iran’s interest […]
by Craig Hooper on March 31, 2010
So, it seems the (estimated) 131st consecutive successful Trident test flight went off in an epic fashion! In Saudi! That’s…unprecedented. (UPDATE: Looks like the story is getting walked back a bit…the AP’s source, “A Western military official in Saudi Arabia” is being contradicted by Pentagon spokespersons–who say there was no launch of any kind.) How, […]