Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Iran Threatens to Block Oil if West Sets New Sanctions

Iran issued a blunt warning on Tuesday that it would block the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit point, if Western powers attempt to impose an embargo on Iranian petroleum exports in their campaign to isolate the country over its suspect nuclear energy program.

The warning, issued by Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, came as Iran’s naval forces were in the midst of a 10-day war games exercise in a vast area of the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage that connects the Gulf of Oman to the Persian Gulf, is the route for one third of the world’s oil-tanker traffic.

“If Iran oil is banned not a single drop of oil will pass through Hormuz Strait,” Mr. Rahimi was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency at a conference in Tehran.
Read the rest here.

Iran seems determined to play into the hands of the neo-imperialists.

3 comments:

The Anti-Gnostic said...

What would you have them do? We are going to bomb them and Syria until their streets run red in any case.

Steve Hardy said...

The Iranians are not threatening a blockade if they are bombed or attacked by any other military means. They are making this threat in the face of economic sanctions which are calculated to curtail their nuclear program. The paranoids in Iran are not being forced to go to engage in a blockade that will certainly be seen by the West as an act of war- they are making a conscious choice. The matter is in their hands.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

The matter is not in their hands: the US and NATO have already decided on war with Iran. The sanctions are to ensure that by the time the bombs start dropping they lack defensive capacity. It is, essentially, siege warfare.