Iran warns it could close waterway vital to oil shipments<!-- /kicker & headline --><!-- subhead --><!-- /subhead --><!-- byline -->
By Nazila Fathi
Published: August 4, 2008
TEHRAN: Iran on Monday warned that it could close a waterway in the Gulf that is critical for oil shipments and announced that it was in possession of a new naval weapon that could sink enemy ships within a range of 300 kilometers.
It was unclear what had provoked the warnings, which were issued by the Revolutionary Guards. But the announcements came just after an informal deadline over the weekend, set by Western powers, for Iran to respond to incentives from world powers to curb its uranium-enrichment activities.
The United States, which has warships deployed in the Gulf, has said that new sanctions should be imposed on Iran for having failed to respond to the deadline.
The warning coincided with reports that the chief Iranian nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, had spoken by telephone Monday with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. Solana was expected to report back on the conversation to the representatives of the six countries - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - that are leading the demands that Iran stop enriching uranium, news agencies reported.
In comments carried by the semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, head of the Revolutionary Guards, said that Iran was capable of imposing "unlimited controls" at the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, an important international oil route.
"Closing the Strait of Hormuz for an unlimited period of time would be very easy," he was quoted as saying.
Jafari gave no details about the type of naval weapon involved in the recent test, but he said it was Iranian-built and "unique in the world."
Jafari said it would have the range to reach warships in the Gulf, an apparent reference to U.S. ships that have been conducting naval maneuvers.
"The Guards have recently tested a naval weapon, which I can say with certainty that the enemy's ships would not be safe within the range of 300 kilometers," or about 185 miles, Jafari was quoted as saying. "Without any doubt we will send them to the depths of the sea."
Iran has made similar claims about its military capabilities in the past, but analysts have treated them with some skepticism.
Early last month, Iran announced it had test-fired a number of missiles in war-game maneuvers, including at least one that the government in Tehran described as having the range to reach Israel and another that it said was a relatively new torpedo called a Hoot missile (the name means whale in Iranian).
But Western military analysts said those war games featured more bluff and exaggeration than displays of real power and said the statements about the range of the largest missile were misleading.
The administration of President George W. Bush has refused to rule out a military option to tensions between Iran and the United States over Tehran's civilian nuclear program.
In June, the Israeli Air Force rehearsed what U.S. intelligence officials described as a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Representatives of the six Western nations met with Iranian officials in Geneva on July 19, with a senior U.S. official taking part for the first time. The talks seemed to produce no progress on the chief demand - that Iran stop uranium enrichment - but the six powers gave Tehran two weeks to respond to their latest proposal before it would be withdrawn.
Specifically, the world powers wanted Iran to accept a formula known as freeze-for-freeze. Under this plan, Iran would not expand its nuclear program, and the United States and other powers would not seek new international sanctions for six weeks to pave the way for formal negotiations.
The proposal, first offered last year, was intended to give Iran economic and political incentives to stop enriching uranium.
Iran dismissed the deadline and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Saturday that Iran would not budge on its nuclear rights, though he said that his country welcomed talks.
"We will take part in any negotiations and talk about any issue which consolidates our nuclear rights," Ahmadinejad said during a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, according to the Iranian leader's Web site.
After Iran's failure to reply by the deadline over the weekend, the United States said Sunday that the United Nations Security Council now had no choice but to expand sanctions. The Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions since 2006.
"It is clear that the government of Iran has not complied with the international community's demand to stop enriching uranium and isn't even interested in trying," said Richard Grenell, a spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, Reuters reported.
"They leave the Security Council no choice but to increase the sanctions, as called for in the last resolution passed," he added.
Graham Bowley contributed reporting from New York
Oil has been dropping, and now this idiot comes and says they can shut down the Strait of Hormuz and threatens our ships.
I'm so sick of Iran and it's threats. I wish we would bomb these fuckers into the past tense.
By Nazila Fathi
Published: August 4, 2008
TEHRAN: Iran on Monday warned that it could close a waterway in the Gulf that is critical for oil shipments and announced that it was in possession of a new naval weapon that could sink enemy ships within a range of 300 kilometers.
It was unclear what had provoked the warnings, which were issued by the Revolutionary Guards. But the announcements came just after an informal deadline over the weekend, set by Western powers, for Iran to respond to incentives from world powers to curb its uranium-enrichment activities.
The United States, which has warships deployed in the Gulf, has said that new sanctions should be imposed on Iran for having failed to respond to the deadline.
The warning coincided with reports that the chief Iranian nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, had spoken by telephone Monday with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. Solana was expected to report back on the conversation to the representatives of the six countries - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - that are leading the demands that Iran stop enriching uranium, news agencies reported.
In comments carried by the semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, head of the Revolutionary Guards, said that Iran was capable of imposing "unlimited controls" at the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, an important international oil route.
"Closing the Strait of Hormuz for an unlimited period of time would be very easy," he was quoted as saying.
Jafari gave no details about the type of naval weapon involved in the recent test, but he said it was Iranian-built and "unique in the world."
Jafari said it would have the range to reach warships in the Gulf, an apparent reference to U.S. ships that have been conducting naval maneuvers.
"The Guards have recently tested a naval weapon, which I can say with certainty that the enemy's ships would not be safe within the range of 300 kilometers," or about 185 miles, Jafari was quoted as saying. "Without any doubt we will send them to the depths of the sea."
Iran has made similar claims about its military capabilities in the past, but analysts have treated them with some skepticism.
Early last month, Iran announced it had test-fired a number of missiles in war-game maneuvers, including at least one that the government in Tehran described as having the range to reach Israel and another that it said was a relatively new torpedo called a Hoot missile (the name means whale in Iranian).
But Western military analysts said those war games featured more bluff and exaggeration than displays of real power and said the statements about the range of the largest missile were misleading.
The administration of President George W. Bush has refused to rule out a military option to tensions between Iran and the United States over Tehran's civilian nuclear program.
In June, the Israeli Air Force rehearsed what U.S. intelligence officials described as a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Representatives of the six Western nations met with Iranian officials in Geneva on July 19, with a senior U.S. official taking part for the first time. The talks seemed to produce no progress on the chief demand - that Iran stop uranium enrichment - but the six powers gave Tehran two weeks to respond to their latest proposal before it would be withdrawn.
Specifically, the world powers wanted Iran to accept a formula known as freeze-for-freeze. Under this plan, Iran would not expand its nuclear program, and the United States and other powers would not seek new international sanctions for six weeks to pave the way for formal negotiations.
The proposal, first offered last year, was intended to give Iran economic and political incentives to stop enriching uranium.
Iran dismissed the deadline and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Saturday that Iran would not budge on its nuclear rights, though he said that his country welcomed talks.
"We will take part in any negotiations and talk about any issue which consolidates our nuclear rights," Ahmadinejad said during a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, according to the Iranian leader's Web site.
After Iran's failure to reply by the deadline over the weekend, the United States said Sunday that the United Nations Security Council now had no choice but to expand sanctions. The Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions since 2006.
"It is clear that the government of Iran has not complied with the international community's demand to stop enriching uranium and isn't even interested in trying," said Richard Grenell, a spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, Reuters reported.
"They leave the Security Council no choice but to increase the sanctions, as called for in the last resolution passed," he added.
Graham Bowley contributed reporting from New York
Oil has been dropping, and now this idiot comes and says they can shut down the Strait of Hormuz and threatens our ships.
I'm so sick of Iran and it's threats. I wish we would bomb these fuckers into the past tense.
