Longer update today:
10 - And so it begins...
Got a friend who's a pure bred killing machine, think he might be dead by Christmas
The morning of 4th April 2006 will live in history as the moment the war really started. At about 7:00am local time a British patrol boat near the Iranian maritme border was hit and sunk by a single anti-ship missile, killing all those on board[1]. It has never been established whether or not the boat actually entered Iranian waters, and all documents relating to the incident remain classified. The incident was clearly an act of war, and the world waited for Britain's response.
The most immediate reaction was in the oil market, where the price, which had risen steadily since the crisis started, spiked to nearly $95 per barrel[2]. Although it didn't sustain that price for long, closing at around $80, investors were clearly spooked.
Within an hour of the attack the British foregin secretary, Jack Straw, asked the Speaker to recall parliament from it's Easter recess to debate a motion giving the house's support to a declaration of war[3]. The motion was passed at 10pm, with only a handful of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs voting against it.
Within an hour of the vote British planes based in Southern Iraq launched airstrikes on Iranian anti-ship missiles and Air defences on the coast. A number of missile sites were destroyed in the attacks, but at a price. Two British planes were shot down over the Iranian coast, both pilots ejected safely, but were captured by Iran.
The immediate retaliation by Iran was to launch medium range missiles at British bases in Iraq. For the most part these attacks were not all that succesful, although they did manage to take at least one runway out of service for a day or two. Iranian troops also attempted to cross the Iraqi border at two locations, near oil facilities. In both cases they were driven back by British and Iraqi forces. A total of 5 British soldiers were kiled in the
battles and, it's believed, up to 25 Iranians (Iran never officially released casualty figures).
The US publicly called on both sides to agree an immediate ceasefire, however behind the scenes they were supporting the British.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOPSECRET/CABINET ONLY
...IN AN EFFORT TO AVOID MORE SEVERE ESCALATION WE CANNOT CURRENTLY PROVIDE DIRECT MILITARY SUPPORT. HOWEVER WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE COVERT INTELLIGENCE AND LOGISTICS SUPPORT SHOULD IT BE REQUIRED...
-From a memo from the US to Britain, de-classified after the war.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Britain also recieved a request by Israel to be allowed to use Iraqi airspace for an unspecified mission, widely believed to be an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, but were refused. Israel has never admitted to sending such a request, and only the British documents were leaked.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECRET/ISRAELI GOVT. ONLY
RE: OPERATION DELILAH.[4]
...DUE TO POSSIBLE CONFUSION AND POTENTIAL INCOMPATABILITY BETWEEN BRITISH AND ISRAELI IFF AND OTHER SYSTEMS IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ALLOW ISRAELI PLANES THE USE OF IRAQI AIRSPACE AT THIS TIME OR IN THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE...
from a memo sent to Israel from Britain, on the 6th of April 2006, leaked (with some portions redacted) in 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]This is based partly on the incident that happened in 2007 in OTL when 15 sailors were detained by Iran and later released only after the whole thing caused mass embarrassment to the British government.
[2]The average oil price in April 06 in OTL was $62.50 according to a quick google search. Clearly here the price is higher here because of the crisis, but it's still a big jump.
[3]Not strictly necessary, but after Iraq it seems reasonable that they would do it for the avoidance of any doubt.
[4]Given Israel's so called "Samson Option", it seems a fitting name for a mission to stop someone else getting that ability, although we can assume that it's solely an internal name, because if it crossed my mind it would have crossed everyone else's too.
10 - And so it begins...
Got a friend who's a pure bred killing machine, think he might be dead by Christmas
The morning of 4th April 2006 will live in history as the moment the war really started. At about 7:00am local time a British patrol boat near the Iranian maritme border was hit and sunk by a single anti-ship missile, killing all those on board[1]. It has never been established whether or not the boat actually entered Iranian waters, and all documents relating to the incident remain classified. The incident was clearly an act of war, and the world waited for Britain's response.
The most immediate reaction was in the oil market, where the price, which had risen steadily since the crisis started, spiked to nearly $95 per barrel[2]. Although it didn't sustain that price for long, closing at around $80, investors were clearly spooked.
Within an hour of the attack the British foregin secretary, Jack Straw, asked the Speaker to recall parliament from it's Easter recess to debate a motion giving the house's support to a declaration of war[3]. The motion was passed at 10pm, with only a handful of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs voting against it.
Within an hour of the vote British planes based in Southern Iraq launched airstrikes on Iranian anti-ship missiles and Air defences on the coast. A number of missile sites were destroyed in the attacks, but at a price. Two British planes were shot down over the Iranian coast, both pilots ejected safely, but were captured by Iran.
The immediate retaliation by Iran was to launch medium range missiles at British bases in Iraq. For the most part these attacks were not all that succesful, although they did manage to take at least one runway out of service for a day or two. Iranian troops also attempted to cross the Iraqi border at two locations, near oil facilities. In both cases they were driven back by British and Iraqi forces. A total of 5 British soldiers were kiled in the
battles and, it's believed, up to 25 Iranians (Iran never officially released casualty figures).
The US publicly called on both sides to agree an immediate ceasefire, however behind the scenes they were supporting the British.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOPSECRET/CABINET ONLY
...IN AN EFFORT TO AVOID MORE SEVERE ESCALATION WE CANNOT CURRENTLY PROVIDE DIRECT MILITARY SUPPORT. HOWEVER WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE COVERT INTELLIGENCE AND LOGISTICS SUPPORT SHOULD IT BE REQUIRED...
-From a memo from the US to Britain, de-classified after the war.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Britain also recieved a request by Israel to be allowed to use Iraqi airspace for an unspecified mission, widely believed to be an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, but were refused. Israel has never admitted to sending such a request, and only the British documents were leaked.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECRET/ISRAELI GOVT. ONLY
RE: OPERATION DELILAH.[4]
...DUE TO POSSIBLE CONFUSION AND POTENTIAL INCOMPATABILITY BETWEEN BRITISH AND ISRAELI IFF AND OTHER SYSTEMS IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ALLOW ISRAELI PLANES THE USE OF IRAQI AIRSPACE AT THIS TIME OR IN THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE...
from a memo sent to Israel from Britain, on the 6th of April 2006, leaked (with some portions redacted) in 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]This is based partly on the incident that happened in 2007 in OTL when 15 sailors were detained by Iran and later released only after the whole thing caused mass embarrassment to the British government.
[2]The average oil price in April 06 in OTL was $62.50 according to a quick google search. Clearly here the price is higher here because of the crisis, but it's still a big jump.
[3]Not strictly necessary, but after Iraq it seems reasonable that they would do it for the avoidance of any doubt.
[4]Given Israel's so called "Samson Option", it seems a fitting name for a mission to stop someone else getting that ability, although we can assume that it's solely an internal name, because if it crossed my mind it would have crossed everyone else's too.
Price of oil be damn.