Iran issues new oil blockade warning
* US charges Iranian, Chinese on Iran enrichment
DUBAI: Iran could prevent even ‘a single drop of oil’ passing through the Strait of Hormuz if its security is threatened, a naval chief said on Saturday, as tensions simmer over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Tehran will increase its military presence in international waters, said Ali Fadavi, naval commander in Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). “If they (the US) do not obey international laws and the IRGC’s warnings, it will have very bad consequences for them,” Fadavi said, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.
“The IRGC’s naval forces have had the ability since the (Iran-Iraq) war to completely control the Strait of Hormuz and not allow even a single drop of oil to pass through.” Fadavi added: “IRGC special naval forces are present on all of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ships in the Indian Ocean and to its east and west, to prevent any movement.
“This IRGC naval force presence in international waters will increase.” Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel, through which 40 percent of the world’s sea-borne oil exports passes, in retaliation for sanctions placed on its crude exports by Western powers.
The United States has beefed up its presence in the Gulf, adding a navy ship last week to help mine-clearing operations if Iran were to act on threats to block the strait.
Tehran said last month it was building more warships, in part to guard Iranian cargo ships from pirates, and Iranian military leaders often assert Iran’s strength in the region and dominance in the Strait of Hormuz. Military analysts have cast doubt on Iran’s willingness to block the slender waterway, given the massive US-led retaliation it would likely incur.
Meanwhile, the United States announced charges against an Iranian citizen and Chinese resident for allegedly trying to export nuclear-related material to help Tehran enrich uranium.
One of the men, Iranian citizen Parviz Khaki, was also accused of conspiring to send radioactive material from the United States to customers in Iran, according to an indictment by a federal grand jury in Washington.
Khaki, 43, was arrested in May in the Philippines on request of the United States while the Chinese resident, Yi Zongcheng, remains at large. The two men both face decades in prison if convicted. The Justice Department alleged that Khaki and Yi sought to obtain and export materials including maraging steel, aluminum alloys, mass spectrometers and vacuum pumps used in gas centrifuges to enrich uranium.
Western officials and Israel suspect that Iran is enriching uranium to build a nuclear weapon under the cover of a civilian energy program. The same facilities used for peaceful enrichment can serve to build a bomb. “Today’s indictment sheds light on the reach of Iran’s illegal procurement networks and the importance of keeping US nuclear-related materials from being exploited by Iran,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
“Iranian procurement networks continue to target US and Western companies for technology acquisition by using fraud, front companies and middlemen in nations around the globe,” she said.