The United States is beefing up its military presence in the Persian Gulf, a quiet move directed at keeping the Iranian military from attempting to shut the Strait of Hormuz and, of course, to quell its nuclear ambitions. These deployments have apparently been in the works for a while, both as a signal to Iran to play it cool and a nod to Israel that the U.S. is on top of its ally’s enemy. There is a risk, though, that increased military presence in the area will agitate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, especially as the U.S. and allies are simultaneously planning to embargo Iranian oil exports.
