Posted on 06/28/2008 6:36:04 AM PDT by John W
TEHERAN - Iran reiterated that it would block the oil export route in the Persian Gulf if attacked, a Teheran newspaper reported Saturday.
"It is understood that a country would use all possible options against an aggressor if militarily attacked. In that case, Iran would also intensify control of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz," the commander of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards told Jam'e Jam daily.
General Mohammad Ali Jafari also warned neighbouring countries not to take part in any military strike plans against Iran.
The general made the statement in reference to reports that the United States and Israel might attack the main Iranian nuclear site in Natanz, central Iran, after the Islamic state once again refused to suspend its uranium enrichment programme.
In earlier statements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that the country would be justified in using all options in the event of an attack. He also had not ruled out blocking the Persian Gulf blockade and using controls on oil supplies as a weapon.
A major part of regional oil exports are piped through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, and a blockade could trigger a worldwide energy crisis.
Jafari also warned Israel that the Jewish state was within the range of Iranian missiles and indicated that any Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites would be retaliated against by missile attacks.
Earlier this month, the Israeli air force held an exercise that US officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Iran's medium-range Shahab-3 missile reportedly has a range of between 1,300 and 2,000 kilometres and is said to be able to reach any part of Israeli territory.
Has Mr Jafari consulted with the Fifth Fleet on his plans to block the gulf, yet?
Without their consent, he will have difficulty enacting his plan.
And somehow he actually thinks we would not do the same if a blockade was attempted?
I wonder how his "all options" stack up against our "all options."
Blocking the Strait of Hormuz sounds easier than it would be.
It’s not a canal.
You could block it for awhile with a naval force and artillery, but both of those can be taken out by superior forces.
Blocking the Strait of Hormuz would probably make China and India unhappy in addition to the usual oil buyers.
Do these guys have no idea what out military is capable of??
This is the reason why we have to drill and use alternative energy sources,this guy wouldn’t dare say this if they didn’t have the world in bondage over oil! We have done nothing in 30 years and our government should all be fired!
They made this same threat in the 80’s. My fellow squids and I, and the gyrenes showed up in force and they blinked. When they did later give it a try we sunk a substantial portion of their Navy, in a few hours.
I hope they try again, because I still hold a grudge against these kidnapping, dirt-worshipping primitives. Islam sucks.
Somehow I’m reminded of the scene in Blazing Saddles where
the sheriff holds a gun to his head and says, “Anybody move
and the Sheriff gets it.”
Does Amadinijad think he can blockade the gulf while his tankers continue to travel freely? I got news for him.
What if we WANT to blockade the gulf?
All we have to do is launch some attack against Iran and they will do it for us. Hahahaha.
a blockade could trigger a worldwide energy crisis.
Which just might be enough to wake up the world to find
alternative ways to power our economies.
If Iran can’t ship crude, how are they going to get fuel
for their tanks etc.
.....General Mohammad Ali Jafari also warned neighbouring countries......
He knows the score. He sees it coming.
The Coalition Of The Threatened will play a major role in removing the General from power once the war begins. We have not been provided with the method of initial attack, but should be able to make out the outlines of the destruction of Iranian capabilities once it actually starts.
Watch deployment of US naval forces in the Gulf for an indication of an imminent Israeli attack on Iran.
Good analysis! Kudos!
Israel's strike on Iran's oil refineries will block Iran's flow of oil and cripple their economy.
There must have been something lost in the translation.
“DO WHAT HE SAY-ES...DO WHAT HE SAY-ES”
I'm sure they do. However, they are counting on an "Obama" military that would be very different from a Bush military or McCain military.
With all due respect, FRiend, that attitude is part of the problem.
(1) "done nothing" is completely untrue.
Drive through West Texas, Oklahoma etc and you will see BOOMING oil production ON PRIVATE LAND. New wells left and right. Additionally, the Barnett shale around Ft Worth is being hammered so hard, that they are drilling in the PARKING LOTS of the University of Texas at Arlington for natural gas!
Not to mention the Bakken fields and elsewhere, IOW ....supply has kept up with demand.
(2) "Done nothing" is greatly preferred to the "we" you imply when you say "our government should all be fired!" The less "our government" meddles, the better off we'll be. ANWR and "public land" drilling just gives the congress an addicting taste of PEMEX and nationalized oil. When the Feds start basking in the royalties off those wells, hell, why not nationalize the private ones?
The best we can hope from the federal government is to ease permitting for refineries and such, and the first one in 30 years was just approved in the Dakotas...but I'd gladly pay taxes to keep congress in a nice salary if they'd just promise to go on vacation and do NO MORE HARM.
Sounds like Vince Flynn’s “Protect and Defend”.
Is he going to block it w/his navy on the bottom of the gulf? If you like $5/gal, Thank Congress. If you want $10/gal, Vote Obama.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Unfortunately, they are betting that we have no resolve to support another skirmish in the region. They are gambling that we fear a war. A President Obama will pacify them.
Liberals always accuse us for going to war over oil. Maybe just once we can give validity to their little rant. Lets go attack Iran, get rid of their nukes, monkey and mullahs.
Then we take over their oil as payback for Iranian influence in killing fellow Americans all these past years.
Turn the liberal lies into truth....sweet irony that would be!
40% of world oil goes through the Straits of Hormuz.
Any blocking of those straits would constitute grounds for war.
They would have to wait for an Osama presidency - then BHO would sit down and talk with them - maybe even, send Madelene Albright or Jesse Jackson as a special envoy.
They tried this before -- Google "Operation Praying Mantis". The bottom line is the US sank the Iranian Navy, and they didn't do this again.
If the next President of the United States has a pair, they won't do this.
If the next President of the United States doesn't, and is going to respond by chain-smoking menthol cigarettes and put his thumb up his butt, we will have a problem.
The world economic effect would depend on how long oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is suspended. If a day to a week, the effect would be minimal. If a month it would begin to be serious. If longer than three months it would take years to restabilize. It all depends on how soon and how large the Navy can move to neutralize the threat.
I’d say they could, at best, block it for a day. Their navy considers a speedboat a warship. The biggest potential threat would be mining which should be relatively easy to detect and stop.
I’d say a pipeline to get oil out via a less dangerous waterway would be advisable, but it’s hard to think of a country to run it through that I’d want having more power. I wouldn’t even trust Turkey with that much additional power.
good, so we can clear out their ‘navy’ and see how they like having no ships to defend their ports
Good luck with your plans Iran. I’m pushing 50 and I’ll sign up to help defeat their plans. It’s either that or Dinty Moore Stew every day. We are fighting for our economic survival. The river is being dammed upstream by enemies.
We have airlines nearing collapse, laying off people, general malaise and discontent caused by other humans hoarding a resource. If it was water and we were dying from drought, we would have no qualms about taking steps to secure supplies.
After our nukes vaporize the Iraninan government, there will not be anything left to block the Gulf oil routes.
If they want to see how we live without oil, they can find out what it’s like to live without water.
Yes, the Iranians know what out military is capable of.
The Iranian bluster is for the benefit of the liberal news media who are their anti-American propaganda allies and their Sheeple readers who do not know.
Iranian frigate IS SAHAND (74) burns after being attacked by aircraft of Carrier Air Wing II from USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) on 18 April 1988
Is that before or after Obama dismantles our military and surrenders to terrorists around the world with the help of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the rest of the Liberal traitors???
Big mistake.
If I was a betting man, I’d say before winter.
If we had been expanding the drilling for oil here at home then Iran’s threats wouldn’t have as much weight.
Maybe, maybe not. Passive denial at choke points is easier than active defense. For instance, without deploying a single vessel, all the Iranians need to do is announce they mined the straits.
Threatening to block Gulf oil is one of the very good reasons to partition Iran.
A crescent shaped partition from northwest Iran to southeast Iran would take Iranian Kurdistan and give it to Iraqi Kurdistan to create a “greater Kurdistan”. The partition would continue South and take the Bushehr reactor, taking it out of the equation. Then further South into Arab Khuzestan, taking out most of Iran’s oil, and giving that area to Iraq. Finally to the southeast, taking mineral rich Iranian Baluchistan and giving it to Pakistan, to unite with Pakistani Baluchistan.
This would take away the money, oil, and mineral resources the Iranians would need to rebuild their nuclear weapons program, and it would cut them off from the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, so they could no longer menace much of the world’s oil supply.
The lands would be turned over to Kurdistan, Iraq and Pakistan, all of which could defend them if the Iranian military and IRGC were reduced from the air.
Iran would once again become just Persia, after losing its hated and powerless minorities. And though it might continue to have nuclear ambitions, it would be incapable of doing anything about them.
Either way this is going to be a real mess... If Israel strikes expect 10$ for gas.
Of course they do, they just don't fear the Wimp in charge, which currently seems to be Condi Rice and the Communist State Department(ours).
Actually OPEC itself is grounds for War. It is essentially a blockade, tho economic rather than physical. Same result.
He knows the score. He sees it coming.
I thought with all of the meetings and concerns between Israel and the U.S. that Iran would have been attacked a couple of years ago. Maybe we were trying to get more stability in Iraq first? It's tied up alot of Syria and Iran's terrorists who have gone to fight us in Iraq.
I agree with you about this statement though. It does seem to make an attack seem imminent.
Are the Iranians stupider now than before?
Did the previous excersie tell us anything about Iranian threats?
Don't know how the previous link went bad.
Let’s get this crap over with!
Attack now! Screw all these threats!
DUDE!
A major part of regional oil exports are piped through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, and a blockade could trigger a worldwide energy crisis.
Ol'Amanutjob better be careful because he might end up with no Country to lead and no virgins left!
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