iran will not directly touch iraq... that would DEFINITELY cause a war with the US, and the iranian government has to know that is a losing proposition... the only thing china and russia can do is threaten to level the nuclear playing field... neither has a military that is portable or all that strong... china has numbers, but not location or transport... russia is broke, and the military isnt all that motivated... neither is a real threat in the region...
tex, range is iffy without refueling, but refueling is something the israelis can do.. the harpoon doesnt have the penetrating power of a bunker buster, so i would think an aerial assault would work better, but i simply dont know... probably a moot point anyway...
mindido, you are still fixated on oil, i see.. first, the US gets absolutely no oil from iran... second, would iran cut off its nose to spite its face?? it is wholly reliant on oil for its economy... iranian oil must flow for iranian survival, and iran uses a lot of tankers... the straits of hormuz thing has been threatened before, but has never happened.. if the iranians did block it, it could be easily unblocked if necessary...
iran has to also know that no matter what it does to lash out, it will recieve ten times or more in return... what would the rest of the muslim world do??? personally, i dont care.. i also think any impact from that would be minimal... israels neighbors might decide to have another go and get their asses kicked--again... pakistan... what have they done for us lately?? besides, india is the natural check on pakistan, not us...