By John Galt
July 5, 2011
The story from the newspaper Emirates 24/7 via AFP should be worthy of a little attention and should be a cause for concern as things heat up in the Middle East:
Iran ready to close Strait of Hormuz: General
Published Monday, July 04, 2011Iran is ready if threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to ships linking the Gulf to international markets, Revolutionary Guards commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari told Mehr news agency on Monday.
“In light of the strategic position of the Strait of Hormuz, this issue has never been taken off the agenda,” Jafari said, commenting on whether Tehran was still prepared to close down the shipping lane if threatened.
“We have not stopped there… we are seeking to use our defence capabilities in open waters,” Jafari added as forces under his command prepared to launch the naval phase of the 10-day Great Prophet-6 exercise, which lasts until Friday.
Media reported the Guards will launch surface-to-sea missiles on Tuesday.
The story is nothing new to some, but for the United States and a world already tense after re-visiting $100 per barrel oil and the instability of the Iranian allies in Syria and Lebanon, this is the kind of story that should send a chill up the spine of world leaders. The U.S. is ill-prepared to engage in a conflict beyond the current theaters of operation and the risk of an Iranian action either via Hezbollah attacking Israel or some extraordinary event bringing Saudi Arabia and Iran to blows is still a real risk. The overt policy of funding and in some cases arming Shi’ite revolutionaries to agitate Western allies in the region has already created a joint G.C.C. (Gulf Cooperation Council) tactical response force to quell internal rebellions or aid member nations against external threats.
Watch the events in Lebanon and Syria in the weeks to come as the powder keg will not take much to explode.
[...] Iran says they are Ready to close the Straits of Hormuz [...]