Iran Threatens to Block Oil if West Sets New Sanctions

By RICK GLADSTONE

Iran issued a blunt warning on Tuesday that it would block the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit point, if Western powers attempt to impose an embargo on Iranian petroleum exports in their campaign to isolate the country over its suspect nuclear energy program.

The warning, issued by Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, came as Iran’s naval forces were in the midst of a 10-day war games exercise in a vast area of the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage that connects the Gulf of Oman to the Persian Gulf, is the route for one third of the world’s oil-tanker traffic.

“If Iran oil is banned not a single drop of oil will pass through Hormuz Strait,” Mr. Rahimi was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency at a conference in Tehran.

“We are not interested in any hostility,” he was quoted as saying. “Our motto is friendship and brotherhood, but Westerners are not willing to abandon their plots.”

Mr. Rahimi appeared to be referring to efforts under way by the United States and European Union to restrict Iran’s ability to sell oil, its most important export, as part of their increasingly strict economic sanctions in response to Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Iran contends the program is purely peaceful but a United Nations report issued last month raised the possibility that it is clandestinely working on a nuclear weapon and missile delivery system.

European Union ministers have said they will take up the question over whether to boycott Iranian oil in coming weeks, and the United States Congress passed a measure this month that could potentially choke Iranian oil exports. Although the United States does not buy Iran’s oil, the measure could discourage other buyers, even those who have friendly relations with the United States, by restricting their access to the American market if they do business with Iran’s Central Bank, the principal conduit for Iranian oil transactions.

Oil prices rose slightly, partly in reaction to Mr. Rahimi’s remarks. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the benchmark contract was up 75 cents a barrel to $100.43 by late morning.

This is not the first time Iran has threatened to disrupt world oil supplies in response to the sanctions. Iranian officials have also predicted that oil prices would double if their own exports are constricted.