Vice-president threatens to cut off shipments at Strait of Hormuz if West sanctions Iran's vital oil exports. Last Modified: 28 Dec 2011 16:35 | |
 The threat was reported on Tuesday by the state news agency IRNA as Iran conducted its fourth day of naval drills near the Strait of Hormuz, at the entrance to the oil-rich Gulf."If sanctions are adopted against Iranian oil, not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz," Rahimi was quoted as saying. "We have no desire for hostilities or violence ... but the West doesn't want to go back on its plan" to impose sanctions, he said. "The enemies will only drop their plots when we put them back in their place." The threat underlined Iran's readiness to target the narrow stretch of water along its Gulf coast if it is attacked or economically strangled by Western sanctions. US responds A spokesperson for the US Navy's 5th fleet responded to the threat by warning Iran that any disruption of traffic flowing though the Strait of Hormuz, "will not be tolerated". "Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated,'' said Rebecca Rebarich. She said the US Navy is "`always ready to counter malevolent actions to ensure freedom of navigation.'' More than one-third of the world's tanker-borne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The US maintains a navy presence in the Gulf in large part to ensure that passage remains free. Tehran in September rejected Washington's call for a military hotline between the capitals to defuse any "miscalculations" that could occur between their military forces in the Gulf. Read the rest on: Al Jazeera |
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