Iran is a very good country, and it has to be said that this country has a pivotal position in the Middle East. The only countries in the Middle East that can compete with Iran are Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Iran is a fighter in the Middle East. Because the country has parted ways with the United States since 1979, and even went to a break. It has been 45 years now, and people have survived.
In the past 45 years, whether it is the Iran-Iraq war or military and economic sanctions, Iran has survived. So the question is, where did they have such a great ability to confront Lao Mei for nearly half a century? What hole cards do they have in their hands?
First, there are more oil and natural gas
Iran is a country with a lot of oil, and according to the current exploration results, Iran's oil reserves rank third in the world, accounting for about 10% of the world's oil reserves.
Oil is the blood of industry, and it is indispensable if you want to develop industry. From all kinds of daily necessities, to cars and ships, to the aerospace industry, nothing can be separated from oil.
Therefore, at present, the oil countries are still very arrogant, and OPEC, formed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and several other countries, can control global oil prices at any time. Global oil prices are closely related to global currencies, and even the United States can't do anything about them.
It can be seen that Iran, as a major oil-producing country, has enough capital to compete with Laos and the United States. Even in the midst of economic sanctions, there are still some big customers who buy Iranian oil. We are Iran's number one customer.
In addition to oil, Iran also has a large amount of natural gas, and so far, Iran's natural gas reserves rank second in the world, second only to Russia. Natural gas is also in demand at present, not only for heating and power generation, but also as a chemical raw material and to start cars, which is definitely a big treasure.
God knows why God gave all this wealth to Iran, in short, Iran relies on these energy sources to support them in the struggle against the United States for so many years. If you have money in your pocket, you can only speak hard!
2. Hold the Strait of Hormuz
The Middle East is a land of three continents and five seas, the so-called three continents are Asia, Africa and Europe, and the five seas are the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea.
The root cause of the Red Sea crisis in the Middle East is that the Red Sea's shipping lane function affects the global supply of goods, which is crucial.
In fact, the Middle East's most important shipping lanes are far more than the Red Sea. Among them, the Strait of Hormuz is also a very important shipping lane, which is located between Iran and Oman, and is an important passage connecting the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
In other words, whoever blocks the Strait of Hormuz will block the passage of oil and gas energy from the Persian Gulf to the world.
In the Persian Gulf, there are Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other major oil-producing and gas-producing countries, and they are very dependent on the Strait of Hormuz.
And Iran happens to be able to influence the Strait of Hormuz, and it can be blocked at any time. In addition, oil tankers from Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and other countries that have relatively good relations with Laos and the United States are also in danger of being attacked by Iran at any time.
Therefore, the United States does not dare to easily go head-on with Iran, once the fight starts, Iran will go crazy, and it will really be able to block this road, and it will be the people of the world who will be unlucky at that time.
Third, the younger brother is like a cloud, and the fierce general is like rain
Iran, as one of the largest countries in the Middle East, is actually a very powerful operator in the Middle East. There are too many little brothers under this guy's hands, and there are many fierce generals among them.
They are based on the Shia sect of Islam and are therefore strongly supporting a large Shiite group in the Middle East. These Shiite groups are weak, so they have naturally become Iran's little brothers.
First, the Iraqi Shiite bloc
There are a little more Shiites than Sunnis in Iran, so after the Iraq war, it was the Shiite forces that came to power through elections. And Shiites and Iran are naturally close, which Lao Mei never expected.
Saddam Hussein, who was defeated back then, was a representative of the Sunni faction, but he didn't expect them to be democratically elected, but he invisibly created a good friend of Iran, and it is estimated that his intestines are repentant.
Second, the Syrian authorities
Syria is a country with a clear Sunni majority, but the group in power is Shia. What's going on?
It turned out that no one among the Sunnis was willing to serve in the army, and as a result, a large number of Shiites entered the army. These men later became officers, so much so that the military in Syria was taken over by the Shiites.
Whoever has a gun in his hand will be able to speak. As a result, the Shiites took power in Syria in the struggle, and now the Assad family is a follower of the Alawite branch.
Originally, Syria was also very strong, and there was no need to be anyone's little brother. But in 2011, after the start of the Syrian civil war, the country's power continued to decline, which eventually led to the intervention of the great powers, and the Syrian authorities had no choice but to become Iran's little brother, after all, everyone has a good relationship and is Shia.
Third, Lebanese Allah
Lebanese Allah is a product of the Fifth Middle East War in 1982, when a large number of Lebanese Shiites fled south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to protest because they had no income from work.
After the war, Lebanon was mistreated, and with the support of Syria and Iran, these Shiites formed Allah in southern Beirut.
Although this force is small in size, it is very strong in combat, and it has occupied southern Lebanon for many years, and does not listen to the Lebanese authorities at all. Even Israel has to concede three points when it comes to fighting Allah in Lebanon.
At the beginning, they were sponsored by Syria, and after the disaster in Syria, they received strong support from Iran, and they are definitely the fierce generals among Iran's many junior brothers, enough for Israel to drink a pot.
Fourth, the Houthis in Yemen
The Houthis are the group that is now making the most noise in the Red Sea region. The organization is also typical of Shiite, belonging to the Shiite branch of the Zede.
In the early years, they also cooperated with the Yemeni authorities, but after disagreements over Iraq, the Houthis and the Yemeni authorities began to separate ways, so much so that they later fell apart.
The combat effectiveness of this organization is still very strong, and from this episode of trouble in the Red Sea, it can also be seen that they have a certain strength, and they can be regarded as a fierce general under Iran.
After all, when the Houthis faced a coalition of more than a dozen countries led by Saudi Arabia, they not only survived, but also beat their opponents away. This time, the Houthis tried to wrestle with Lao Mei, of course, the result is clear at a glance, it is useless to blow it on the Internet, the difference in strength is there.
Prepare the younger brother, Hamas
Hamas is Sunni and should not have been co-opted by Iran. But Hamas's goal is the same as Iran's, which is to wipe Israel off the face of the face of the earth.
This makes it very likely that Iran and Hamas will come together, and although there are some differences in beliefs, the two sides have a common topic when facing common interests.
Although Hamas has a lot of people in its hands, it has no money in its pocket. Iran just doesn't want to come forward and directly fight Israel, but they have money in their pockets, and everyone takes what they need, isn't it happy? Therefore, Hamas is very likely to be Iran's next junior brother, but judging from the current situation, I don't know whether this junior brother can hold out until the truce.
Fourth, the population is large and the mountains are large
Iran has a population of more than 80 million, which is something that the United States is very afraid of. In 1961, when the United States fought Vietnam, Vietnam had only 30 million people, but it dragged the United States there for more than ten years, so that it was completely defeated. When the United States fought Afghanistan in 2001, Afghanistan had a population of only 20 million, and it still tossed the United States enough, even if it won the war, it could not hold on to the end.
In the face of this Persian country with a population of more than 80 million, Lao Mei is really difficult to start. Once you do it, there will be no room for maneuver, and when the time comes, you don't know how much manpower and material resources it will take, and it will even disrupt your layout in the Middle East. After all, Iran can't fight the United States, but it can still fight a few of America's junior brothers in the Middle East.
Even if the population is large, the point is that Iran is still very mountainous. This characteristic doomed the United States to be unable to solve the problem by bombing alone. When the time comes, it will be necessary to land in street fighting, and then things will be much more complicated.
Therefore, even if the two sides had a quarrel like that in 1979, the United States did not directly attack Iran, let alone let Iran recuperate after so many years.
Successive U.S. speakers have been reluctant to be fully tough with Iran
Iran has always been a topic of discussion for American speakers when they are re-elected, and as long as they suppress Iran a little bit and show their tough guy style when they are re-elected, it will be enough. Enough for them to add points when they are re-elected.
But they are reluctant to completely tear their faces with Iran head-on, because once they do, they will have to use troops directly against Iran. And there is no certainty of victory with soldiers. Once defeated or deadlocked, there is little hope for re-election.
In 1979, during the Carter era, it happened that Iranian students kidnapped U.S. consulate staff. At that time, Carter and Iran had been negotiating for a long time without progress, so that special personnel had to be used to rescue the hostages.
It can be said that this is a matter of becoming a Buddha with one thought and becoming a demon with one thought. If the rescue is successful, then Carter is a national hero, a great savior in the eyes of Americans, and there is no problem at all in his tenure. But once the rescue fails, no matter how many reasons, Carter has no face to continue to work.
As a result, we all know that this rescue ended in failure, and Carter lost his chance to be re-elected because of this incident.
Therefore, every US speaker since then, before striving for re-election, will basically play the Iranian card, but only to knock on the side, and will not move the real thing at all.
This time, don't look at Uncle Bai in a hurry, it seems that he is going to make a big move. Personally, no matter how big the action is, they will not have a head-on war with Iran.