Hostile Rhetoric Reaching the Boiling Point

Israel and the U.S. have repeatedly warned that they would be forced to intervene if Iran carries on with its attempts to expand its nuclear capabilities.

Iran, meanwhile, has claimed it has the same rights as any other nation to pursue a technology that offers the country significant benefits (whatever those might be). Moreover, it has often said that it would be forced to take aggressive action, including disrupting the flow of oil into and out of the Mideast, if others interfere with its sovereign rights.

Is there anyone who does not believe that the hostile rhetoric has reached -- or will soon reach -- a point that both sides risk losing face if they back down?

With deteriorating economic conditions already souring the social mood, the risks must be increasing that one or other of these countries will make a deadly mistake; will test the limits of the other side; will engage in defensive or other behavior that raises the geopolitical temperature still further; or will do something else that turns harsh words into hostile action.

Unfortunately, that reality is probably a lot closer than many people would like to believe.

In "Iran Again Warns of Persian Gulf Blockade If Attacked," Deutsche Press Agentur details the latest warning from the longstanding U.S. arch-nemesis.

Iran has once again warned that it would blockade the oil export route in the Persian Gulf if its nuclear sites were attacked, Iranian media reported Saturday.

'We are capable of blockading the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and whoever does not believe this should ... see what happens in reality,' Navy Commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari told IRNA news agency.

Iran's paramilitary revolutionary guards had several times in the past warned that if Israel carried out its plan to attack the country's nuclear sites, Iran would block the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which an estimated 20 per cent of the world's daily oil supply passes.

Such a blockade could trigger a worldwide energy crisis.

Admiral Sayari further told IRNA any aggressor should not forget that 2,000 kilometres of the Persian Gulf coast belonged to Iran, making the country capable of taking various initiatives.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has in the past also warned that the country would be justified in using all options in the case of an attack, including using controls on oil supplies as a weapon.

Israel and the United States have stated that a military strike against Iran would not be ruled out if the Islamic state did not suspend its controversial nuclear projects. Both countries believe Tehran is secretly working on an atomic bomb despite Iranian claims of pursuing a solely civil nuclear programme.

Comments

[roger]

The western world's need for cheap energy (oil) as been a curse for
the Muslim world.England & France dominated this part of the world
by military means until dethroned by the USA,witch replaced military
dominance by Financial buy out of corrupt governments who enriched
them selves while the populace lived in abject misery.After all it
is not Iran that overthrew the US gov. it is not the Muslim world that
exploited the rich natural resources of USA, England or France,come on
lets be fair& honest,religion apart they are people w/the same aspiration
as us. By the way I'm an Atheist of Christian origin & spent many years
living in North Africa.