As reported by Reuters, US-Iran tensions are on the rise over the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran threatening to blockade the key oil shipping route as the US tries to push key allies to embargo Iran’s access to oil markets.
Key quotes
“With tensions rising over the strategic waterway, the European Union is proposing a plan for salvaging a multinational nuclear deal with Tehran after Washington withdrew, but Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told leaders in Paris and Berlin on Thursday that the package did not go far enough. Rouhani and some senior military commanders have threatened in recent days to disrupt oil shipments from the Gulf countries if Washington tries to strangle Tehran’s exports.
Mohammad Ali Jafari, who commands the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s most powerful military force, responded on Thursday. If Iran cannot sell its oil due to U.S. pressure, then no other regional country will be allowed to do so either, Jafari was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency. “We are hopeful that this plan expressed by our president will be implemented if needed,” he said. “We will make the enemy understand that either all can use the Strait of Hormuz or no one.”
The strait is the most important oil transit channel in the world with about one fifth of global oil consumption passing through each day.”
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