Lot’s of geo-political news activity this evening.

From the Associated Press @ 1:36 AM CST

Iran’s state television says the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard has started large-scale war games in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The Thursday report says naval, air and ground units from the Guard will participate in the three-day games codenamed “The Great Prophet.”

Iran annually holds military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which some 40 percent of the world’s oil and energy supplies pass through, to show off its military capabilities.

This year’s war games, however, could heighten tension at a time when the West is at a deepening standoff with Iran over its nuclear program. The West suspects the program conceals a nuclear arm production drive, a charge that Iran denies.

Iran holds war games each year, so this may be yet another exercise. Iranian television is describing these as large-scale, and they happen to coincide with breaking reports out of South Korea that a North Korean torpedo was responsible for the sinking of a patrol ship in March.