Iran regularly threatens to use the so called “oil weapon”. What they’re implying they’ll do is shut down the straights of Hormuz and probably pull their daily contribution off of the petroleum market. I believe this is a credible threat that we do not want to see exercised. I also believe this is Iran’s only deterrent against external pressure to reform their belligerent policies. Their pursuit of nuclear WMD, advanced ballistic delivery systems and underground bunkers is a blatant attempt to diversify their deterrent portfolio. Why do they need solid deterrents? They need deterrents to facilitate the continued propagation of what they call, "the Islamic Revolution". The fascist ideological engine that corrupted the 1979 Revolution is still very much alive there. Exporting Islamic revolution is the principal strategy of Iranian foreign policy. Rhetorical and financial support for terrorism is that country’s primary tool of statecraft. Energy economics are what allows that government to sustain its existence and therefore its behavior.
I believe we should incrementally deprive them of their capacity to do harm in the region. Directly depriving that nation of energy in the form of refined petroleum is a tool in our toolbox, but not a very good one. Attacking those facilities would be a direct thing the West could do. I’m afraid there are far fewer things the West can do directly to reduce Iran’s ability to do harm. There are however a number of things that could be done "indirectly". I think the contents of this article represent the potential of indirectly limiting Iran’s capacity to do harm. The location of its IED factories and the people who are running them are now known to the world. This knowledge has provided options to tacticians that they presumably didn’t have before. Operations like this one conducted by dissidents inside Iran deserve greater attention from Western officials and Western media. At a minimum, American leaders should demonstrate to Iran, overtly or covertly, they have the capacity to absorb and react appropriately to this kind of information.
"Iran regularly threatens to use the so called “oil weapon”. What they’re implying they’ll do is shut down the straights of Hormuz and probably pull their daily contribution off of the petroleum market. I believe this is a credible threat that we do not want to see exercised."
I have to disagree with this. US Naval and Air Forces can and would suppress Iranian attempts to close the straights. The silkworm missile requires ground based radar guidance that can be taken out by wild weasel anti radiation missiles just as Israel just did in Lebanon. Also if we destroy their oil industry putting them on foot and in the dark, how can their threat of pulling their oil off the market be a problem? You should read my entire post as it covers how we can deal with the loss of supply.