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Monday, October 10, 2016

Our New Friends, the Iranians

Rejoice that a cocktail of hope, change, and nuance mixed together in a nuclear deal with Iran that shoveled money at the mullahs have put that nutball hostile nation well on the road to deep friendship and partnership with America!

Well, there are speed bumps:

A U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer [note: USS Mason] was targeted on Sunday in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, a U.S. military spokesman told Reuters, saying neither of the two missiles hit the ship.

It is unclear if electronic counter-measures were responsible for the misses.

UPDATE: What seems like reliable RUMORINT says that Mason fired anti-missiles during the engagement, although it is unclear if they dropped the first incoming missile; the second splashed harmlessly on its own.

Note too that the other ship in the incident, Ponce, carries experimental laser weaponry.

UPDATE: Mason was targeted again:

For the second time in four days, USS Mason responded to an incoming missile threat while conducting routine operations in international waters off the Red Sea coast of Yemen. At about 6 p.m. local time today (11 a.m. EDT), the ship detected at least one missile that we assess originated from Houthi-controlled territory near Al Hudaydah, Yemen. The ship employed defensive countermeasures, and the missile did not reach USS Mason. There was no damage to the ship or its crew. USS Mason will continue its operations. Those who threaten our forces should know that U.S. commanders retain the right to defend their ships, and we will respond to this threat at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner.

A proper retaliation would involve hitting Iran's Kharg Island oil export facilities rather than killing a bunch of semi-random Yemen rebels who don't really matter.