Fireworks! Magic missiles! Revolutionary technological advances! Iran's recent "Defenders of the Sky" air defense exercise has ended and what have we learned? Well, it's probably a bad idea to make ludicrous weapons claims if you're trying to deter your enemies.

Iran concluded its "biggest" air defense exercise aimed at protecting the country's nuclear sites by claiming it had also conducted "psychological operations" during the drill. Their "main priority," in the words of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, was to "to confront [the enemy's] soft warfare which is aimed at creating doubt, discord and pessimism among the masses of the people." In other words, we're puffing out our chests in order to counter threats against us, real and perceived, from the United States and Israel.

The key to effective saber-rattling, however, is to rattle an actual saber – not some rusty knock off you just hammered out in your basement. But that's exactly what Iran's been up to during "Defenders of the Sky."

On Saturday, Iran said it successfully test-fired what it claims is an upgraded S-200 surface-to-air missile. The S-200, developed by the Soviet Union during the Kennedy administration and designed to hit big, fat slow-moving bombers, had been magically souped-up, according to the Iranians, to be just as powerful as the 20 years more advanced S-300 missile system. Oh, and they managed to accomplish this all in a matter of just a few months. Right.

It's all part of a pattern of conventional capabilities-inflation from Iran that can often be pretty embarrassing, from photoshopping missiles to its oversold "Ambassador of Death" drone. The weapons bravado, far from serving as the psychological deterrent Iran may think it is, actually makes the country look aggressive, foolish and weak – not exactly the message you want to send to potential attackers.

It's all the more bizarre because Iran actually does have a number of credible unconventional options at its disposal that should make anyone think twice about attacking its nuclear facilities. It's right next door to America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and could create a lot of headaches for the United States in the event of an attack. Its could trigger Hamas and Hezbollah to launch rockets at and cause problems for Israel. And its asymmetric naval capabilities in the Persian Gulf could be a genuine threat to U.S. warships and global energy supplies.

But proxies and swarm boats moving through Tehran on parade floats must not feel quite as good for Iran's leaders as oil drums welded in the shape of S-300s. And so the bluster continues.

Photo: PressTV

See Also: