Iran to Control World’s Bottleneck if Attacked
28 June 2008
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8704081095
TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said Iran
will impose controls on shipping in the vital Persian Gulf oil transit route
if it comes under attack.
“Naturally every country under attack by an enemy uses all its capacity and
opportunities to confront the enemy. Regarding the main route for exiting
energy, Iran will definitely act to impose control on the Persian Gulf and
Strait of Hormuz,” IRGC commander-in-chief Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari
told Jam-e Jam newspaper.
Israel and its staunch ally the United States have recently intensified
their threats to launch military action against Iran to make Tehran drop
what they allege to be a non-peaceful nuclear program, while a recent report
by 16 US intelligence bodies endorsed the civilian nature of Iran’s
programs.
Speculation about a possible attack on Iran has risen since a report this
month said Israel had practiced such a strike.
US and Israeli threats against Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil
producer, over its nuclear plans have been a major factor helping prop up
skyrocketing oil prices.
Tel Aviv and Washington accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they
have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their
allegations. Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear
program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to
provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel
would eventually run dry.
Iran has also insisted that it would continue enriching uranium because it
needs to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it is building
in the southwestern town of Darkhoveyn as well as its first nuclear power
plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.
“If there is a confrontation between us and the enemy from outside the
region, definitely the scope (of the confrontation) will reach the oil
issue,” Jafari cautioned.
“After this action (of Iran imposing controls on the Persian Gulf waterway),
the oil price will rise very considerably and this is among the factors
deterring the enemies,” he said.
The Iranian top commander also warned countries in the region not to let
their territory be used for any attack.
The United States has a fortified military build-up in the region, including
Iran’s neighbors Iraq and Afghanistan. Tehran has often said US troops
should withdraw to let regional countries handle their own security.
“If enemies from outside the region use the soil of regional countries
against the Islamic Republic of Iran … the governments of those countries
will be responsible and it is our obvious right to act in the same way
against their military capabilities and abilities of enemies everywhere,”
Jafari said.
Following the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and similar reports by
the IAEA head – one in November and the other one in February – which
praised Iran’s truthfulness about key aspects of its past nuclear activities
and announced settlement of outstanding issues with Tehran, any effort to
impose further sanctions or launch military attack on Iran seems to be
completely irrational.
The February report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic
Energy Agency, praised Iran’s cooperation in clearing up all of the past
questions over its nuclear program, vindicating Iran’s nuclear program and
leaving no justification for any new UN sanctions.
Following the said reports by US and international bodies, many world states
have called the UN Security Council pressure against Tehran unjustified,
demanding that Iran’s case must be normalized and returned from the UNSC to
the IAEA.
