Closure of key oil choke point would send oil prices skyrocketing to $300-$500 a barrel, experts say
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Following erroneous reports yesterday that Iran had closed the Strait of Hormuz, a rumor that caused a brief spike in oil prices, MP Parviz Sorouri today reiterated Iran’s threat to close the key oil choke point if the country’s nuclear facilities come under attack.
“The Strait of Hormuz is one of these options (for defending the country); if the strait is secure it should be secure for all, it can’t be secure for all except for Iran, if such a thing happens, naturally Iran can use this capacity to close the waterway within its territorial waters and within its borders in accordance with international rules and regulation,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Parviz Sorouri told reporters on Wednesday.
“We cannot keep mum and remain handcuffed against threats. If enemies intend to bring their threats against us into action, we will use all our capacities, too, and the Strait of Hormuz is one of these capacities,” Sorouri said in comments reported by Iran’s official Fars News Agency.
On Monday we reported how Iran was preparing to stage a drill based around closing the Strait of Hormuz in the event of a US/Israeli attack. 24 hours later real-time analyst website Ransquawk reported the “rumor” that the Strait had been closed, which was almost immediately confirmed to be false. The rumor arose out of confusion regarding the military exercise, which is set to take place soon.
“The Iranian armed forces are set to stage military drills in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to practice how to defend Iran,” confirms the Fars report.
Experts have warned that the closure of Iran’s key shipping transit, through which 15.5 million barrels of oil pass each day representing 33% of the world’s total oil shipments, would send oil prices through the roof.
Closing the Strait for a period of just 30 days would send crude racing up to $300-$500 dollars a barrel, a level that would trigger global economic instability and cost the U.S. nearly $75 billion in GDP. “One bomb on Iran and oil prices could shoot up to $300 or even $500 a barrel,” veteran UPI correspondent Arnaud de Borchgrave wrote recently.
On November 1, a group of 13 generals and admirals produced a report warning that a “sustained disruption” of oil “would be devastating – crippling our very freedom of movement.” The report, entitled “Ensuring America’s Freedom of Movement: A National Security Imperative to Reduce U.S. Oil Dependence,” was sponsored by a San Francisco-based Energy Foundation.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast warned last week that oil prices would soar above $250 dollars barrel if sanctions were placed on Iran.
In response, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated, “Any disruption of the free flow of commerce through the Persian Gulf is a very grave threat to all of us and a red line for the US.”
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.
