Iran threatens to stop oil flow via Hormuz strait

[sabra]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467686686&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Iran threatens to stop oil flow via Hormuz strait

A senior Iranian officer warned that if the West continues to threaten Iran's economy over its nuclear program, Teheran will discontinue the flow of oil via the Strait of Hormuz, Israel Radio reported Monday.

According to the officer, 40% of the world's oil is transferred through the strait, and the world is dependent on Iran for a source of energy and a stable economy.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. OK, I'm confused. Didn't I read yesterday that the WH wanted to

stop Iranian oil exports as leverage, and if I did, isn't this getting the same result via a different approach?

[Freddie Stubbs]

3. No, the Strait of Hormuz is in internation waters, and is how Iraq and Kuwait

and perhaps other Gulf states) get their oil out to the world:

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Got it. File it under "Be careful of what you wish for . . . ." n/t

[Roland99]

22. With Global Warming, the Musandam Peninsula will be underwater soon anyway

;)

[Eugene]

5. Iran is threating OTHER Gulf states' exports

as they did during the 1980-1988 war.
Shrubya may get his war with Iran yet.

[paulk]

23. he'll also have the support of most of the rest of the developed

world. The Iranians can't be that stupid...

[leesa]

25. I doubt it. The rest of the world realizes that Bush is playing the Iraq lying game

with Iran.

[Nihil]

26. The rest of the world gets news, not NewSpeak.

Even the poodle has realised that there is a limit to how far
an ally can blindly support illegal, immoral and totally fucking
stupid warcrimes.

(I mean the British poodle not the Australian one - who hasn't twigged yet).

[paulk]

29. it's not about Bush

it's about oil. Most of the oil that comes through there doesn't even go to the US.

If Iran cuts off that supply, they won't just be dealing with the US.

[BushOut06]

2. Stop the flow if its own oil, or stop the flow of ALL oil?

It would be relatively easy to seal off the Straights of Hormuz. They did this back in the mid-80s, laying mines to stop oil tankers from exiting. We brought in a few mine-clearing ships, bombed a few of Iran's oil facilities, and that was that. I think this time would be much different.

[The Stranger]

6. If Iran denies this report, will it then be considered "discredited" by DUers?

[iconoclastic cat]

9. Do you mean to ask if DUers will find proof discounting it?

Possible, but I don't think DU is itself considered an objective source.

[Eugene]

10. The report quotes an unnamed "senior Iranian officer."

The offical could be shooting from the hip or floating a trial balloon.
He may not be speaking for the Iranian government. True or not, that
makes for a plausible official denial.

Blocking the Strait would be an outright act of war, giving Bush
the excuse he craves to attack Iran. A threat like that would be
more credible with a name attached.

[Lurking Dem]

11. It wasn't the denial that discredited the

the other story.

And since we don't already have 18 200 post threads decrying this, I would say that people are looking at this story with a jaundiced eye.

Why do you suppose the reaction is so different?

[The Stranger]

21. But it was precisely the denial that was claimed to have "discredited" the story.

[Lurking Dem]

27. No.

It was the previous stories by the author and the fact it was unsourced.

[The Stranger]

28. Yes.

Ad hominem attacks against the author don't "discredit" a story.

[Lurking Dem]

30. Ask yourself this

What would your (and most of DUs) initial reaction be to a story in a Murdoch owned rag that claimed an imminent terrorist attack in LA (based on unsourced information) or that Iran had nuclear weapons and was busy training for a bombing run in Israel (according to an unnamed source in the Iranian government)?

Would it be skepticism? Would a critical eye be gazed toward the author? Would questions be asked?

Hell yes. And rightly so.

An author's past stories are used all the fucking time on DU to discredit what someone says from Drudge to O'Reilly to even Truthout. You and IG have been repeating Perle is on the board of the Jerusalem Post for days even though Hollinger hasn't owned the paper since 2004. IG even said it was run by "American neocons" yet the paper is Israeli owned! Is that NOT an ad hominem against the Post?

Asking to view such stories with a jaundiced eye is an obligation to truth. If other sources are found or information that is reliable comes into play then that, too, should be brought to light.

THE MAN WROTE THAT ISRAEL HAD DEVELOPED AN ETHNO-BOMB! For crying out loud, that is right up there with Bush caused the tsunami and Jews have a weapon that make Arab penises shrink!

From MY point of view this looks ugly. I hope you can at least try and understand WHY it looks ugly from my point of view.

[Junkdrawer]

7. Looks to me like *someone* wants to force a confrontation...

Who could that be? :think:

[iconoclastic cat]

8. How is the J. Post as a source?

Could this be propaganda?

[maddezmom]

12. propaganda is always an option...others have picked up on the story

http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=7584
The deputy head of Iran's volunteer Basij militia warned on Monday that pressuring Iran could result in the disruption of international oil flows through the strategic Gulf waterway.

"We control the strait of Hormuz. It is the only way for the flow of 40 percent of the world's energy," Commander Majid Mirahmadi told the semi-official Fars news agency.

Iran controls one side of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Gulf through which about two fifths of the world's globally traded oil passes.

He did not say how those flows would be affected but some Iranian officials have previously hinted Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, could use oil as a weapon in its nuclear standoff with the West.


http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=19084
Khamenei, who was shown on television, was making his first public appearance since rumors appeared on Web sites on Thursday that he had died. Iran last week denied the reports.


A top officer in the volunteer Basij militia said on Monday Iran could block oil traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz if the West threatens its economy over Tehran's nuclear program.


"Given Iran's authority over the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway to more than 40 percent of the world's energy, we have become so strong that the world's economic and energy security are in the hands of Iran," deputy Basij commander General Majid Mir Ahmadi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

[bemildred]

13. Unsourced statements don't mean squat.

The basic idea, of course, is correct; in a war, not much oil will get through the strait, and the sanctions the US is now trying to implement against Iran will do nicely as a casus belli, not that one really needs one.

[Lurking Dem]

15. Unsourced statements

Bingo.

[ellisonz]

20. Being echoed around the world...

:hide:

[Strelnikov_]

14. We Have Heard This Before. Recycled Propaganda?

From about a year ago:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2061746

A senior Iranian official threatened that Tehran may forcibly prevent oil export via the Straits of Hormuz if the UN imposed economic sanctions due to Iran's nuclear program, an Iranian news Web site said on Monday. This is the first time an Iranian official makes military threats in a public statement on Tehran's recent disagreements with the West.

And the Strait transits ~20% of the worlds petroleum, less than the statement, but still a fatal blow for capitalist industrial society if cut for a significant length of time.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/World_Oil_Transit_Chokepoints/Hormuz.html

[ohio2007]

16. SOuuce article is the J.Post ? hmmm. playing the China card

The war of words between Israel and Iran continue. The US doesn't get oil via Hormuz.
China does.

[stillcool]

17. I think this can be filed under...

the 'known-knowns' file. That Iran has this capability has been reported before, as has the ability of Muqtada-al-Sadr to cut off the supply line of provisions for U.S. troops. What also has been reported, is Iran's reluctance to be provoked into action. Consequences that await any action, appear to be the saving grace in all of this.

[stillcool]

19. an article from 2005...............

Oil, Geopolitics, and the Coming War with Iran
by Michael T. Klare
TomDispatch.com, April 11, 2005
commondreams.org
.........................................................................................
One further caveat: When talking about oil's importance in American strategic thinking about Iran, it is important to go beyond the obvious question of Iran's potential role in satisfying our country's future energy requirements. Because Iran occupies a strategic location on the north side of the Persian Gulf, it is in a position to threaten oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates, which together possess more than half of the world's known oil reserves. Iran also sits athwart the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which, daily, 40% of the world's oil exports pass. In addition, Iran is becoming a major supplier of oil and natural gas to China, India, and Japan, thereby giving Tehran additional clout in world affairs. It is these geopolitical dimensions of energy, as much as Iran's potential to export significant quantities of oil to the United States, that undoubtedly govern the administration's strategic calculations.
................................................................................................
When considering Iran's role in the global energy equation, therefore, Bush administration officials have two key strategic aims: a desire to open up Iranian oil and gas fields to exploitation by American firms, and concern over Iran's growing ties to America's competitors in the global energy market. Under U.S. law, the first of these aims can only be achieved after the President lifts EO 12959, and this is not likely to occur as long as Iran is controlled by anti-American mullahs and refuses to abandon its uranium enrichment activities with potential bomb-making applications. Likewise, the ban on U.S. involvement in Iranian energy production and export gives Tehran no choice but to pursue ties with other consuming nations. From the Bush administration's point of view, there is only one obvious and immediate way to alter this unappetizing landscape -- by inducing "regime change" in Iran and replacing the existing leadership with one far friendlier to U.S. strategic interests.
............................................................................................
The Iranian leadership is well aware that it faces a serious threat from the Bush administration and is no doubt taking whatever steps it can to prevent such an attack. Here, too, oil is a major factor in both Tehran's and Washington's calculations. To deter a possible American assault, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz and otherwise obstruct oil shipping in the Persian Gulf area. "An attack on Iran will be tantamount to endangering Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and, in a word, the entire Middle East oil," Iranian Expediency Council secretary Mohsen Rezai said on March 1st.
Such threats are taken very seriously by the U.S. Department of Defense. "We judge Iran can briefly close the Strait of Hormuz, relying on a layered strategy using predominantly naval, air, and some ground forces," Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on February 16th.

[Roland99]

18. That's ok, an increase in Iraqi oil production will take up the slack!

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-iranoil7jan07,1,7734831,full.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage&ctrack=1&cset=true


:eyes:

[Dover]

24. Iran Threatens to Block Key Shipping Lane

Iran Threatens to Block Key Shipping Lane
Agencies

TEHRAN, 9 January 2007 — A top officer in the volunteer Basij militia said yesterday Iran could block oil traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz if the West threatens its economy over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“Given Iran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway to more than 40 percent of the world’s energy, we have become so strong that the world’s economic and energy security are in the hands of Iran,” deputy commander of Basij, Gen. Majid Mir Ahmadi, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

“We can exert pressure on the US and British economies as much as we ourselves are put under pressure,” he said.

“US allies, especially those who host US military sites or facilitate American strategies against us, are exposed to our threat,” Mir Ahmadi added. “This is the Islamic republic’s strategy in the Gulf — security for everyone or for nobody.”...cont'd

&category=World