Thread by @gbponz

Mmm... it's not built to wage war, but as a political ship it's far from harmless. For example, it puts the #IRGC s finger on the Jugular of the rest of the regime by threatening to fire those missiles.(/) @RobertMCutler @shaun_riordan @vtchakarova @BaldingsWorld @nglinsman

https://twitter.com/eshow1969/status/1329957564721848320

Until now, the IRGC had two roles, an open "bodyguards of the Mullahs" internally, and a more or less covert "instigators of trouble" abroad. That makes sense in an asymmetrical world where no one retaliated by establishing similar troubles in your country.(/)

After the "Green Revolution" demise, Mullahs and IRGC take it as a given that their house is secure, and now that Turkey is a friend that's taken to the bank. But Brown Shirts tend to tragically cut their heads off while shaving at the behest of pesky political masters.(/)

So the equilibrium of "no OVERT IRGC official presence abroad" was that liability for them, in that anyone their military act outside home waters could be deprecated. This wreck is a signal that this is no longer true...(/)

In a way, it makes me nostalgic for the era of "gunboat diplomacy", where that ship would find some hungry wolf at the exit of Bab el Mandeb, which in a reenactment of Gaius Popsicles Lents drew a circle of 14 inch shells around it and said: "exit in my direction at your peril".

*Gaius Popillus Laenas. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Pop… Effing phone.
@chigrl

A good analysis of the Ship's capabilities and possible uses, hisutton.com/Iranian-IRGC-F…

h/t @CovertShores . A very good resource for Naval intelligence.