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So why is it that the US should have the right to cut off free trade and Iran should not, Justforfun?

Meanwhile, I see that Shep is still the quintessential imperialist: ignorant, contemptuous, enamored with violence, and delusional.

Iran's parliament said Wednesday it was preparing a bill that would prohibit all foreign warships from entering the Persian Gulf unless they received permission from the Iranian navy.

The bill, disclosed by the the semiofficial Fars News Agency, surfaced a day after Iran’s armed forces commander warned a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier not to return to the gulf, remarks that rattled commodities markets and helped drive up oil prices.

The proposed legislation suggested that at least some Iranian officials are serious about trying to stop the U.S. Navy from entering the oil-rich gulf waters. Iranian analysts said the bill probably would not have been introduced if it were not supported by higher authorities.

“If the military vessels and warships of any country want to pass via the Strait of Hormuz without coordination and permission of Iran’s navy forces, they should be stopped by the Iranian armed forces,” Fars quoted lawmaker Nader Qazipour as saying in explaining the bill. He noted that Iran regards the strait as part of its territorial waters and said the bill would be presented to parliamentary leaders next week.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ahmad Vahidi restated Iran's position that “transnational forces” have no place in the region. Vahidi also said Iran is willing to organize joint military drills with neighboring countries, Fars reported Wednesday.

The news agency, which has ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed that the carrier USS John C. Stennis, which steamed out of the Persian Gulf last week, had escaped while being “chased by Iranian warships.”

Iran's parliament said Wednesday it was preparing a bill that would prohibit all foreign warships from entering the Persian Gulf unless they received permission from the Iranian navy.

What does the average man on the street in Iran make of all of this grandstanding by their government?

As someone mentioned above..the stupidest thing you can do is provoke a confrontation involving something like oil that practically all countries value as liquid gold. Sure you can dick-wave about your own personal stores but you want to cry and stomp your feet when sanctions interfere with your business because you won't play fair with everyone? Tough. That's one of the very FEW methods we can use to actually enforce civility in the world.

Given that they are already in a position where they are being spied on constantly and they know it, their air space is being violated consistently and they know it, their scientists are either being assassinated or coincidentally exploding, and they know it, and their infrastructure is being sabotaged by exceedingly clever and effective electronic warfare, and they have finally worked that out, how do you expect them to act? I mean yeah, they are spending a lot of their time dick waving and foot stamping here, but it's not like the rest of the world is playing fair either. Short of military action, cutting off the oil they supply is about the only diplomatic action they can take because the rest of the world pretty much refuses to deal with them like a nation unless the entire government more or less stands down, so they are going to threaten to do it from time to time.

And give up their best method to defend themselves.

So you are for nuclear proliferation then. Glad you clarified that.

Or they could ya know, stop trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran is no more dangerous to the US today than it was thirty years ago. It's always been a nation unfriendly to the US that had access to strategic materials we want(Oil). Lots of those countries in the last thirty years have had force used against them in one form or another. Nukes however get the US or other nations to back off from direct invasions. It makes perfect sense from Iran's long term goals of becoming a regional player to acquire nuclear weapons as both a status and defense method. It just so happens that US policy is that Iran with nukes will instantly use them against us or Israel. I'd call that thinking based in racism but that's a separate topic entirely.

You know, it's possible to recognize valid motives for a nation to do something without necessarily believing that it is a good thing for the world at large. Your conclusion is a non sequitur.

Or they could ya know, stop trying to develop nuclear weapons.

True. Though if the past 10 years have taught us anything, there is a not so fine line between recognizing those motives and justifying them.

Also, I have to ask you- how do you expect to offer any meaningful challenge to an opponent you refuse to understand? If you don't know why Iran wants a nuclear arsenal, or choose to invent reasons and assign them to the Iranians, you don't stand any chance of convincing them to stop trying. Not short of a massive war- a war you'd be fighting pretty much blind, as far as grand strategy is concerned, because you don't know your enemy.

How would that make them better off?

It won't, but that's the idea. Hopefully they can take the hint and allow the people to adopt a more appropriate regime (hopefully one that we can get along with) without bloodshed.

Well then whats the fucking point? You offer nothing, demand everything and hope, presumably due to magic and the peaceful regime change fairy, that conflict will be avoided?