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Page added on December 4, 2018
Iran Again Threatens To Block Key Oil Transit Choke Point As U.S. Aircraft Carrier En Route
Here we go again: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has once more threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital to up to one-third of all global oil shipping as it’s a key transit choke point in the Persian Gulf.
On Tuesday Iranian state broadcasts carried his words, saying “if someday, the United States decides to block Iran’s oil (exports), no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf.” He further vowed that the United States will not be able to prevent Iran from exporting its crude — something the White House has repeatedly pledged to take down to zero exports through international allies and economic blockade through sanctions.
The threat comes less than 24 hours after US officials told the Wall Street Journal that an aircraft carrier group led by the USS John C. Stennis is set to arrive in the Persian Gulf “within days” — which will bring a close what’s been described as the longest period in two decades that a carrier group was absent from the region. Specifically the unnamed officials identified the purpose as to “exhibit a show of force against Iran”.
The carrier deployment, though previously scheduled, was announced after the US condemned Iran’s test firing a medium-range nuclear capable ballistic missile on Sunday.
“The United States should know that we are selling oil and we will sell our oil and it cannot block Iran’s oil export,” he said on Tuesday addressing the people of Shahroud in Semnan province broadcast live on state TV.
The United States and the Israeli regime cannot stand the idea of a powerful and dignified Iran, and the Iranian nation will not bow to them, Rouhani highlighted, adding, “the United States failed in launching a coup in our country. They were after separating Khuzestan province, imposing sanctions against the country, and undermining Iran’s power, but they failed. It should be studied why the US is angry with Iran and Iranians.” —MEHR News Agency
Though it’s not the first time such a threat was made, tensions have never been higher as less than a day prior Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels to discuss “ways to halt together Iranian aggression in the region”. Hours after the meeting the Israeli Defense Forces launched ‘Operation Northern Shield’ along the Lebanese border to “expose and thwart” what officials have dubbed “terror tunnels” stretching from Lebanon into northern Israel
According to the AP, President Rouhani’s threat was welcomed by hardline clerics and military officials, including Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force.
In early November, for example, a prominent hardline cleric told a Friday prayer gathering in Mashhad, considered Iran’s spiritual capital, that Iran has the power to “instantly” create conditions for $400 a barrel oil prices if it decides to act in the Persian Gulf.
Shia cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda grabbed headlines at the time by declaring, “If Iran decides, a single drop of this region’s oil will not be exported and in 90 minutes all Persian Gulf countries will be destroyed.”
And during the prior summer, after similar threats were issued from Tehran the spokesman for the US military’s Central Command, Captain Bill Urban, told the Associated Press that US sailors and its regional allies “stand ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever international law allows”.
It appears the presence of the USS John C. Stennis is aimed at preventing such a possibility of Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz from happening. Officials also said the carrier group will support the US war in Afghanistan as well as operations against remnant ISIS pockets in Iraq and Syria. But despite current tensions with Iran, Pentagon officials have underscored that the carrier mission was previously scheduled, while also touting its Iranian deterrent mission.
In recent comments over Iran’s developing ballistic missile program, the State Department’s special representative on Iran, Brian Hook, said the “military option” is on the table.
“We have been very clear with the Iranian regime that we will not hesitate to use military force when our interests are threatened. I think they understand that. I think they understand that very clearly,” Hook said late last week.
“I think right now, while we have the military option on the table, our preference is to use all of the tools that are at our disposal diplomatically,” he added.
19 Comments on "Iran Again Threatens To Block Key Oil Transit Choke Point As U.S. Aircraft Carrier En Route"
Cloggie on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 12:49 pm
Iraq and Iran can absolutely not be compared. Iran does indeed control the entire Gulf. The US navy stationed in the Gulf would be toast in case of an open armed conflict. The Chinese and Russians would gladly deliver the most advanced hyper-sonic missiles in order to test them against US hardware, very likely with great success.
It is high time that Iran contemplates building oil and gas terminals at the Caspian coast to ensure uninterrupted deliveries to Eurasian markets (most important Europe and China) via Russia.
As has been stated here many times before, all Iran needs to do is sink 1-2 oil tankers in order to bring shipping in the Gulf to a shrieking halt… and push Europe into the arms of Russia, while giving an enormous boost to building European renewable energy infrastructure to reduce foreign dependence on oil.
Go for it, Iran! Sink ‘m all and sink the global oil industry with it! Good for the environment!
Davy on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 12:55 pm
Sure thing neder. Did your Sum sock tell you that? If Iran sinks a carrier it will pay dearly. I know that does not fit your fantasy PBM world but that is becuase that world is all about a US defeat and little on reality.
I AM THE MOB on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 1:06 pm
Clogg
Renewable energy can’t reduce your dependence on oil..Oil is used for 95% of the worlds transportation and renewable s are used for electricity..
How many fucking times do I have to explain this to you?
Davy on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 1:45 pm
Up the butt and through the penis, thank you very much.
JuanP on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 1:54 pm
I am enjoying this big time, Exceptionalist! LOL!
Davy on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 3:23 pm
Oopsie. Sorry Cloggmeister Sir! I misread your above comment. I thought you said carrier, when in reality you said tanker. Please accept my most sincere apologies for being a dumbass, once again. I really need to get my act together.
Dirty Juan on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 3:48 pm
I said the above Davy. I am mentally twisted. My reptilian playboy brain seeks pleasure but does not have rational abilities. I play, eat, and beat off because I am a freeloading playboy. Daddy pays the bills so wy worry.
Dirty Juan on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 5:05 pm
I Davy said the above. I am mentally twisted. My reptilian playboy brain seeks pleasure but does not have rational abilities. I play, eat, beat off and have sex with my goats, because I am a freeloading playboy. Mommy pays the bills and Daddy pretends he doesn’t even know me so wy worry.
Sissyfuss on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 5:17 pm
We’re all bitch-slapping each other as things are really getting serious. If this heats up it could trigger an economic apocalypse leading to the Greatest Depression. The bottleneck cannot be avoided, but it might be survivable by some.
makati1 on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 5:50 pm
Sissyfuss, it will be “survivable” by many, but most “survivors” will be outside the 1st world. That is difficult for some here to understand, but it is lack of rational thought and actually experience in the outside world or plain denial, I think.
Free Speech Message Board on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 8:45 pm
Americans used to think hippies were lazy fruits for dropping out during the Vietnam War, but maybe the hippies had the right idea after all.
If you can’t change a corrupt system, why be a part of it?
Cloggie on Wed, 5th Dec 2018 3:28 am
Davy loves to post from this source:
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/11/30/g20-summit-top-agenda-item-bye-bye-american-empire.html
“G20 Summit, Top Agenda Item: Bye-Bye American Empire”
Davy on Wed, 5th Dec 2018 5:35 am
“Davy loves to post from this source:”
AH, yea because I am balanced and a moderate unlike you that is an extremist with a Eurocentric empire-ing agenda. I post negative American sources because I am a realist. WTF, Zerohedge is a very anti-American source and you dumbasses whine about it. You whine about it because they also have negatives on your poster bitches China, Russia, and Euroland. I am balanced but you and your extremist friends are not. If I post lots of anti-other articles it is because you extremist anti-Americans have the anti-American shit covered by a factor of 10. Yes, I want a multipolar world. How does that jive with your calling empire Dave? It don’t dumbass. You extremist can’t stand a moderate with balance. That is why I am hated here by your type. It is so easy to moderate and neuter you all I have to do is be my normal self. Why do you think JuanP is gone off the deep end attacking me since July with mindless attack comments, identity theft and sock puppets. He has been beaten. He cannot argue anymore with facts. Billy is going down the drain. You are a tougher nut to crack but you are cracking.
Davy on Wed, 5th Dec 2018 5:53 am
It is hard to top the US for murders but euroland is working on it.
“France Is Becoming More Violent”
https://tinyurl.com/y7vyx7rz
“I like to give credit where credit is due. The left-globalist newspaper Libération – co-owned by Édouard de Rothschild, the Franco-Israeli media-mogul Patrick Drahi, Bruno Ledoux – recently reported an interesting piece of information: a sharp 20% rise in the non-terrorism-related homicide rate in France over the last two years.”
“The latest figures suggests that this may be changing. As Libération points out, despite the lack of major terrorist attacks since 2016, the homicide rate according to official statistics has not gone down. This means that the level of day-to-day run-of-the-mill murder has gone up by 20% over the last 12 months, about 150 more killings annually than in preceding years. As Libération writes: This statistic is striking. Because it shows . . . a break with 15 years of decline or stagnation [of homicide]. Because it echoes developments seen in neighboring countries. But also because it was completely overlooked by the Ministry of the Interior. There have also been upticks in crime in Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands in recent years.”
Davy on Wed, 5th Dec 2018 5:59 am
Shit flows downhill
Turkey’s Economy Is A House of Cards – Consumer Debt Crisis Emerges
https://tinyurl.com/y72lfkl5
“Turkey’s soaring inflation, plunging currency, surging interest rates, and a collapsing stock market, has ended almost two decades of stable economic growth and the “good life” for Turkish consumers that started in 2001. Now, the greatest threat facing Turkey is a structural one: its desperate need for foreign financial resources.”
“According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey’s balance of payments figures, in the first three quarters of 2018, there were no financial resources available from abroad, while $4.2 billion of foreign funds fled the country. During the high growth period, about one-fourth of foreign resources were used in the form of mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards, according to Al-Monitor. Consumer loans were the economic miracle that kept domestic consumption alive, but it forced low-income families into insurmountable debts.”
“As of recent, headline economic indicators suggest the Turkish economy is set for a painful recession, despite the government asserting the economy is merely “rebalancing.” Turkish banks are now panicking that nonperforming consumer loans are set to explode in 2019. Some debtors may lose their jobs in the next economic downturn. Those who keep their jobs may not make enough money to cope with high inflation, which means the consumer base, after a near two-decade party, is about to experience a horrible deleveraging period.”
george on Wed, 5th Dec 2018 12:19 pm
The American way of life is non negotiable.
Who said that ?
lol
Cloggie on Wed, 5th Dec 2018 12:22 pm
H.W. Bush, 1992.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/05/us-lifestyle-is-not-up-for-negotiation/
Just before the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, some of the industrial nations, and specifically the United States, were lambasted for their obscenely high consumption of the world’s finite resources, including food, water and energy.
The world was being gradually destroyed, environmentalists warned, by unsustainable consumption.
Hitting back at critics, then U.S. president George H.W. Bush famously declared: “The American way of life is not up for negotiations. Period.”
I AM THE MOB on Wed, 5th Dec 2018 12:39 pm
Clogg
I made this just for you!
https://imgur.com/a/erGXMMj
HAHA!
I AM THE MOB on Wed, 5th Dec 2018 12:42 pm
21st Century Energy Wars!
https://imgur.com/a/erGXMMj