This One's A "Hoot"

The Iranians are now acting out to such a degree that the grown-ups will soon be forced to spank them.

They announced yesterday that they have just tested an "underwater missile" ("torpedo" in non freedom-hating languages) that can-- get this-- "outpace an enemy warship."

Getting scared yet?

The new torpedo, called the "Hoot," or whale, could raise concerns over Iran's power in the Gulf, a vital corridor for oil supplies and where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Iranian ships attacked oil tankers in the Gulf, and Iran and the U.S. military engaged in clashes.

(Gen. Ali Fadavi of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards) said only one other country, Russia, had a missile that moved underwater as fast as the Iranian one, which he said had a speed of about 225 miles per hour. State television showed what it described as the missile being fired.

"The missile carries a very powerful warhead that enables it to operate against groups of warships and big submarines," he said.

Early intelligence reports indicate that it then goes "boom."

(Fadavi) contended that the boats that would launch the missile were able to evade detection systems but that "even if an enemy's warship sonar can detect the missile, no warship can escape from this missile because of its high speed."...

(Iran's representative to the atomic energy agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh), told CNN on Sunday that he did not believe that the weapon could carry a nuclear warhead. "The world should not worry because any country has its own self-defense conventional military activities," he said.

Mr. Soltanieh is correct that the world should not worry about such trifles, but he clearly hasn't read the Mearsheimer/Walt report.