Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz, through which the bulk of Middle East oil is shipped, if the country is attacked, state-run Fars news agency reported, citing a military commander.
“All countries should know that if Iran’s interests in the region are ignored, it is natural that we will not allow others to use” the waterway, Fars cited Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hassan Firouzabadi as saying late yesterday.
The Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman at the mouth of the Persian Gulf handles the shipment of about 20 percent of the world’s daily supply of oil, figures from the US government’s Energy Information Administration indicate .
The oil’s main destinations include the US, Western Europe and Japan.
The US and many of its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists the atomic program is intended to produce electricity and is legal under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
‘BLITZKRIEG’
Iran also warned that it would use a “blitzkrieg tactic” in the Persian Gulf if it came under attack, the news agency said, citing Revolutionary Guard chief Mohammad Ali Jafari.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps “is equipped with the most advanced missiles that can strike the enemies’ vessels and naval equipment with fatal blows,” the news agency quoted Jafari as saying.
Tensions have been rising in the region amid speculation that Israel may be prepared to attack Iran to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb. US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he is committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution to the confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program, though “all options” remain in place to prevent Iran from developing an atomic weapon.
Tehran indicated on Saturday that it had no plans to meet a key Western demand that it stop enriching uranium, a day after Tehran sent the EU a response to an international offer of incentives for halting enrichment.
The content of that response has not been made public and EU officials declined to comment on it Saturday, but there was caution about the prospects of progress.
“It was not something that made us jump up and down for joy,” said one EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was confidential. “We are in a holding mode until we get a chance to look at it more closely.”
A spokeswoman for Bush, who was en route to a G8 summit in Japan, said: “We’re going out to consult with our allies about what Iran’s response means.”
“We’ll just have to see how this is received by others before we make a formal response,” White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters traveling with Bush.
RENEWED TALKS
A positive response could open the way to renewed negotiations that might help cool recent sharp exchanges between officials on both sides. In recent weeks the US and Iran have traded threats and warnings over possible US or Israeli military action.
But an Iranian official insisted that Tehran would not change the central part of its controversial program.
“Iran’s stand regarding its peaceful nuclear program has not changed,” Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.
Elham also said Iran was ready to negotiate on its program “within the framework of the international rules and regulations.”
Iranian state media reported on Friday that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, have agreed to hold the latest in a series of talks later this month.
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