Iran has no plans to close Hormuz oil route, says naval commander

Jan 1, 2012, 9:57 GMT

Tehran - An Iranian naval commander on Sunday said the country would not close the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf unless it was forced to do so.

Around 40 per cent of the world's ship-borne crude oil passes though the strait.

'We are after peace and security and free shipping and not after closing the Strait of Hormuz,' Deputy Navy Commander Admiral Mahmoud Moussavi told ISNA news agency.

'But we have a share of the strait and if our interests were jeopardized, then the interests of others (Gulf Arab states) would be jeopardized as well,' he said.

Moussavi is also spokesman of the ongoing naval exercises in the Gulf, which have been overshadowed by threats and US counter-threats regarding the Strait of Hormuz.

There have also been contradictory reports about testing long-range missiles in the manoeuvre on Saturday, as previously announced by Moussavi, but the tests were reportedly postponed.

According to official news agency IRNA, a medium-range missile was successfully tested on Sunday.

The missiles test are supposed to be the final part of the manoeuvres which will end on Monday.

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