Mohammad Kossari, deputy head of the Iranian parliament’s foreign affairs and national security committee has warned the US not to interfere when Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz. While Russia, China and Iran are playing a game of chess, the Obama administration is playing tic tac toe. Obama underestimated the Iranian threat throughout his campaign and administration. This threat was always about Russia and power. There will never be a greater opportunity to defeat the United States than with our weakest president in our history. Do you think Russia will wait for the results of the 2012 elections?
David DeGerolamo
Iran slams EU oil embargo, warns could hit U.S.
Iran accused Europeans on Monday of waging “psychological warfare” after the EU banned imports of Iranian oil, and President Barack Obama said Washington would impose more sanctions to address the “serious threat presented by Iran’s nuclear program.”
The Islamic Republic, which denies trying to build a nuclear bomb, scoffed at efforts to choke its oil exports, as Asia lines up to buy what Europe scorns.
Some Iranians also renewed threats to stop Arab oil from leaving the Gulf and warned they might strike U.S. targets worldwide if Washington used force to break any Iranian blockade of a strategically vital shipping route.
Yet in three decades of confrontation between Tehran and the West, bellicose rhetoric and the undependable armory of sanctions have become so familiar that the benchmark Brent crude oil price edged only 0.8 percent higher, and some of that was due to unrelated currency factors.
“If any disruption happens regarding the sale of Iranian oil, the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be closed,” Mohammad Kossari, deputy head of parliament’s foreign affairs and national security committee, told Fars news agency a day after U.S., French and British warships sailed back into the Gulf.
“If America seeks adventures after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will make the world unsafe for Americans in the shortest possible time,” Kossari added, referring to an earlier U.S. pledge to use its fleet to keep the passage open.
In Washington, Obama said in a statement that the EU sanctions underlined the strength of the international community’s commitment to “addressing the serious threat presented by Iran’s nuclear program.”
“The United States will continue to impose new sanctions to increase the pressure on Iran,” Obama said.
The United States imposed its own sanctions against Iran’s oil trade and central bank on December 31. On Monday it imposed sanctions on the country’s third-largest bank, state-owned Bank Tejarat and a Belarus-based affiliate, for allegedly helping Tehran develop its nuclear program.
The EU sanctions were also welcomed by Israel, which has warned it might attack Iran if sanctions do not deflect Tehran from a course that some analysts say could potentially give Iran a nuclear bomb next year.
Another perspective on Iran:
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/considering-us-iranian-deal?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120124&utm_term=gweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=bf6c5d43ccfa45328be058d0b267cbc5