Timeline – 2012 (SIADD)

January 2

 * [[Image:Flag of Iran.svg|25px|border|Iran]] Persian Gulf –  An Iranian naval commander says Iran has successfully test-fired two 200-kilometer-range missiles during naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz.


 * Iranian state media quoted a deputy naval commander, Mahmud Musavi, as saying a Qader shore-to-sea missile and a Nasr surface-to-surface missile were launched in the tests.


 * Another shorter-range missile was expected to be launched later on January 2, the last day of the 10-day war games. The tests came after navy officials said on January 1 that Iran had test-fired an advanced medium-range, ground-to-air missile in the area.


 * Iranian officials have previously threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf shipping lane through which more than one-third of the world's tanker oil passes, if Western nations impose sanctions on Iran.

January 3

 * [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|25px|border|United States]][[Image:Flag of Iowa.svg|25px|border|Iowa]] Des Moines –  In the Democratic primaries, former DNC chairman Howard Dean claimed a convincing victory in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.


 * With all Democratic precincts reporting, Dean had the support of 39 percent of voters, compared to 31 percent for Hillary Clinton and 29 percent for Mark Warner.


 * Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who finished fourth, said her campaign plans to "take the fight to New Hampshire." New Hampshire holds the nation's first primary Tuesday.


 * Dean and Clinton are in a statistical dead heat in New Hampshire, according to the latest CNN/WMUR poll, with Napolitano and Senator Mark Warner of of Virginia in third and fourth.

January 11

 * [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|25px|border|United States]][[Image:Flag of Iran.svg|25px|border|Iran]] Washington, D.C., USA –  The McCain administration warned Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, through secret channels of communication that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response, according to United States government officials.

January 22

 * [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|25px|border|United States]][[Image:Flag of Iran.svg|25px|border|Iran]] Straight of Hormuz, Persian Gulf –  The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Gulf without incident on Sunday, a day after Iran backed away from an earlier threat to take action if an American carrier returned to the strategic waterway.


 * The carrier completed a "regular and routine" passage through the strait, a critical gateway for the region's oil exports, "as previously scheduled and without incident," said Lieutenant Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet.


 * The Lincoln, accompanied by strike group of warships, was the first U.S. aircraft carrier to enter the Gulf since late December and was on a routine rotation to replace the outgoing USS John C. Stennis. The departure of the Stennis prompted Iranian army chief Ataollah Salehi to threaten action if the carrier passed back into the Gulf. "I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf. ... We are not in the habit of warning more than once," he said.


 * The threat led to a round of escalating rhetoric between the two sides that spooked oil markets and raised the specter of a military confrontation between Iran and the United States. Iran threatened to close the strait, the world's most important oil shipping gateway, while the United States warned such a move would require a response by Washington, which routinely patrols international sea lanes to ensure they remain open.


 * Tensions between Iran and the United States have been escalating in recent weeks as President John McCain was preparing to implement new U.S. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program, which Tehran said is for energy production but the West believes is aimed at producing atomic weapons.


 * The EU was also preparing to intensify sanctions against Tehran with an embargo on Iran's oil exports and possibly freezing the assets of Iran's central bank. Obama is preparing new U.S. sanctions that target foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank.


 * Both sides tried to scale down the rhetoric last week. The White House emphasized the United States was still open to international talks on Iran's nuclear program, even as it denied Iranian assertions that discussions were under way about resuming a dialogue.