the week ahead, page-3

Who needs a takeover, when you can have an oil war?

Iran threatens to unleash an oil war by stopping all shipments leaving the Persia Gulf

Iran’s supreme leader has backed President Hassan Rouhani’s proposal that Iran may block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are stopped, raising the prospect of a global oil-supply crisis.

“(Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) said remarks by the president … that ‘if Iran’s oil is not exported, no regional country’s oil will be exported,’ were important remarks that reflect the policy and the approach of (Iran’s) system,” Khamenei’s website said on Saturday.

Rouhani’s apparent threat earlier this month to disrupt oil shipments from neighbouring countries came in reaction to looming US sanctions and efforts by Washington to force all countries to stop buying Iranian oil.

If Iran were to block the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic bottleneck at the end of the Gulf, the world’s supply could be cut by as much as 30%.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2018/07/21/iran-threatens-gulf-blockade/