Iran doesn’t possess a passel of Panzer divisions and have a murderous Luftwaffe at its disposal. But it now has the means to make a play for control of the immense oilfields of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and, all too obviously, Iraq, where its proxy militias are gaining strength. Militias under Iranian control can achieve Teheran’s imperial goals almost as well as WWII-style armed forces…

It doesn’t take a great military theorist to see that Iran is applying a pincer movement against Saudi Arabia. While the world focuses on U.S./Iran nuclear negotiations, the mullahs–and Putin–have their eyes on more immediate and immensely more juicy prey. They believe, despite the deployment of U.S. Navy vessels leading Iran to turn back an Iranian naval convoy last week, that Obama will do nothing effective.