Iran port bustles in shadow of war

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

BANDAR ABBAS, Iran

Evening crowds stroll around the fringes of traffic-filled Yadbod Square, renamed Martyrs’ Square after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, in central Bandar Abbas.

Though the city experienced what passes here for spring, it was another day when daytime temperatures soared beyond 85 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity put a clammy film over everything.

In the evenings, families come out to enjoy the cool air, sitting on plastic chairs at tables outside neon-lit ice-cream and pizza restaurants on the shorefront.

In the event of U.S. air strikes on Iran, this important port at the head of the Strait of Hormuz would be one of the most heavily targeted urban centers. Though it lacks any nuclear sites, Bandar Abbas is one of two centers of activity for the Iranian navy.

“Sometimes, I think I’m the only worried person here,” said Fariba, a middle-aged housewife raising two daughters, whose own childhood was scarred by having to flee her hometown of Abadan after Iraqi troops invaded in 1980.

“None of my friends listen to the news. They prefer to talk about the shopping they did that day. When I tell them we might experience war again, they shrug and say it doesn’t make any difference.”

“My mother is very nervous,” explained Parinaz, her 18-year-old daughter, who attends a state-run school for gifted children. “Every time she listens to Radio Farda, she thinks American Special Forces are about to land in central Bandar Abbas and attack us.”

Radio Farda is a Washington-sponsored radio station that transmits Persian-language news that tends to highlight developments regarding Iran’s nuclear program and its poor human rights record.

With summer temperatures in this Persian Gulf city often exceeding 122 degrees Fahrenheit, residents take advantage of good weather. Soon, the city will be swamped by crowds visiting for the Persian New Year holiday (Noruz, beginning March 21) and a sea of tents will spread across the promenade, making it impassable.

After the 15-day holiday, the heat sets in. Six long months of summer begin and residents huddle in the air-conditioned interiors of their homes.

‘An important target’

“Bandar Abbas is the Iranian navy’s primary port,” said Sam Gardiner, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who has taught strategy and operations at the National War College in Washington.

“Because of the U.S. fear of attacks that would interrupt the flow of oil out of the Gulf, I believe the Iranian navy facilities there would be an important target, [but] I expect this would leave open the flow of commercial goods through the port,” he said.

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