The threat from Iran makes no sense from a strategic point of view. Why add enemies when you may not be able to handle the enemy you find yourself fighting?
If Iran does try to spread the fighting, we have a potential hammer to rally Arabs and hurt Iran:
Together, Abu Musa, Greater Tunbs and Lesser Tunbs amount to fewer than 26 square kilometers of sand and scrub. But their location in the middle of Persian Gulf shipping and tanker lanes near the Strait of Hormuz gives the islands huge strategic importance.
And this importance extends not only to the United Arab Emirates and Iran – both of which claim the islands -- but far beyond. The dispute over who has sovereignty over the islands dates back more than a century. Until recently, the debate was a regional matter. Now, in the light of rising tension over Iran’s nuclear plans and Israel’s threats to attack Iran, the dispute could heat up quickly.
Already, earlier in the year, Gulf Arab states have exercised their military forces with an eye on reclaiming those islands.
We, of course, have the military power to assault and hold the islands. If Iran expands the fight to us, we have options to expand the stakes rather than just absorbing what Iran dishes out. We can take those three islands and seriously dent Iran's ability to make mischief in the Strait of Hormuz.
Fighting in the Persian Gulf won't just be a US-led defensive effort to keep the sea lines of communication open against Iranian air, sea, and mine attacks. Iran loudly threatens doom. We quietly possess the means to inflict doom.
