Iran warns could shut Strait of Hormuz if tensions grow
Iran’s top general warned on Sunday that Tehran
could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping route if it faces more
“hostility,” news agency ISNA said, as the US tightens up sanctions.
“We are not after closing the Strait of Hormuz but
if the hostility of enemies increase, we will be able to do so,” armed forces
chief of staff Mohammad Hossein Bagheri told semi-official ISNA.
“Also if our oil does not go through the strait,
other countries’ oil will certainly not cross the strait, too,” he added.
The statement came after Washington said on Monday
it would start imposing sanctions on countries such as India, China and Turkey
that buy Iranian oil.
Eight countries were initially given six-month
reprieves after the United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran in November,
following President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear
accord.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that the
Islamic republic could shut down the strait, a vital shipping lane for
international oil supplies, should it find its national interests or security
threatened.
“We believe Iran will continue to sell its oil ...
(and) use the Strait of Hormuz. But if the United States takes the crazy
measure of trying to prevent us from doing that, then it should be prepared for
the consequences,” foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday.
“It is in our vital national security interest to
keep the Persian Gulf open, to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. We have done
that in the past and we will continue to do that in the future,” he added.
