Would be interesting to see what happens if they try (the fact that Russia doesn't have a base there should be an omen), and it will be interesting to see if the other several countries who signed the Antarctic Treaty will have anything to say about this.
Either way, this seems like a blatant exercise in FAFO.
I don't see why they can't build a scientific base there, and the treaty doesn't seem to preclude it.
No idea what they're thinking on the military angle. Everything is hard in Antarctica, let alone military operations. They really going to spend the money and R&D?
They do know that Antarctica isn't any one countries' territory and their claim will just be ignored, right? And any enforcement of their so called claim will likely have a multi national response of "like da fuck you do".
Kinda the point. Countries have claims but there isn't any real teeth to any of those claims. There aren't border gaurds and there isn't a military presence that would be able to do much. If Iranians tried the countries that have research stations would definitely remind them of the Antarctic Treaty.
