Tehran: Iranian Lawmaker Javad Karimi Qodoosi has said that just over half of Iran’s parliament has supported a draft law to block the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation against European sanctions on Iranian crude, media reported on Friday.
According to reports, the assembly has little say in defense and foreign policy, where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last word, but the law would lend political support to any decision to close the strait — a threat that Iran’s foreign minister recently played down.
Lawmaker Javad Karimi Qodoosi said 150 of parliament’s 290 members had signed the bill, describing the strait as “the world’s lock” to which Iran holds the key.
A heavy Western naval presence in the Gulf and surrounding area is a big impediment to any attempt to block the vital shipping route through which 40 percent of the world’s seaborne oil exports passes. Qodoosi dismissed this obstacle.
“From a military standpoint, the power to close the Strait of Hormuz is 100 percent there … if we close the Strait of Hormuz, no country will be able to open it.”
Iranian threats to close the shipping channel have multiplied in response to sanctions placed on its crude exports by Western powers. The European Union banned imports from July 1 and non-EU Turkey has slashed purchases.
The sanctions were imposed over Iran’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at creating an atomic weapon and Tehran says is for peaceful energy purposes.
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