Is Iran About to Block the “World’s Most Important Oil Chokepoint”?

Last Updated: 3, July 2012

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As the European Union embargo against Iranian crude came into full effect on Sunday, a defiant Tehran has responded by introducing a draft bill that would block oil tankers en route to countries that have sanctioned Iran from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has acted on its long-standing threat to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a water way through which about 17 million barrels a day sailed in 2011.

According to Iran’s parliamentary news agency, the bill has been “developed as an answer to the European Union’s oil sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran” and to exercise “Iran’s sovereignty over internal waters.”

While it is still unclear whether the bill would be approved by the 12-member Council of Guardians, which is made up of Muslim clerics and lawyers selected by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Pentagon officials have previously said that Iran’s military is capable of closing the “oil chokepoint” temporarily.

Head of Iran’s Economic Commission, Arsala Fathipour, was quoted saying:

[quote] If we completely go under the sanctions, we will not let a single drop of oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz. [/quote]

Officials in Iran have been quick to downplay the economic repercussions of the embargo and on Sunday announced three days of war games in the north central desert of area of Semnan province.

The exercise, dubbed the Great Prophet 7, is aimed at testing the precision and efficiency of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ warheads and missile systems, said Iranian officials, and sends across the message “that the Islamic Republic of Iran is resolute in standing up to bullying”.

Official media reports said this week’s military drill will send dozens of domestic ballistic missiles aimed at models of foreign bases belonging to “extra regional powers”, including the mid-range Shahab-3 missile that is capable of reaching Israel.

Brandishing some of its starkest threats, Iran said it will not hesitate to wipe Israel “off the face of the earth” if attacked.

Israel and the United States have said they could resort to military force if diplomacy fails to force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

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