LEAD: US warns Iran's Khamenei over threat to block key oil route

Jan 13, 2012, 13:37 GMT

Washington - The United States has warned Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that blocking the strategic Strait of Hormuz was a 'red line,' and would provoke a response, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing US officials.

Officials in the administration of President Barack Obama declined to describe the secret channel of communication used to deliver the message, and whether Iran had responded, the report said.

Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway linking the Persian Gulf, also known as the Arabian Gulf, to the Gulf of Oman. About 20 per cent of the world's daily oil trade is shipped through the Strait.

Iran's threat was coupled with military exercises in the channel this month.

The main concern for US naval officials was that an overzealous captain of the naval forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guards could take provocative action on his own and spark a confrontation, the New York Times reported.

Iran's actions coincided with a new round of US sanctions targeting Tehran's oil sector over its disputed nuclear programme, which the West suspects has a military dimension. Iran denies this and says its programme is entirely civilian.

The European Union, which is preparing its own sanctions on Iran's oil sector, will delay implementation of the measures by six months to give time to members who are heavily dependent on Iranian oil imports to find alternative sources, EU diplomats said.

Diplomats are working to finalize the sanctions package by the end of next week, which would then be approved EU foreign ministers on January 23.

'It's not there just yet, but there is a growing consensus' that ministers should decide a six-month delay for the imposition of an oil embargo, one EU diplomat told dpa.

The postponement is meant to give Greece, Italy and Spain, which most depend on Iranian oil imports, time to find alternative sources of supply.

Another diplomat said delaying the implementation of oil embargoes on existing supply contracts was normal practice. New oil deals, however, will be banned immediately.

Italy is also likely to obtain an exemption that will allow it to continue receiving oil supplies as repayment of a debt that Iran has run up with ENI, Italy's biggest energy firm, the source said.

Negotiations are focusing on a review clause stipulating that the impact of the sanctions on the EU economy and global oil prices should be examined periodically, they added.

Meanwhile, Iran has welcomed a new round of talks with world powers on its nuclear programme, days after the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Tehran had started to enrich uranium at 20 per cent.

'Our Turkish friends want the next nuclear talks to be held in Istanbul and we welcome it,' said parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who is visiting Turkey.

The last round of talks in Istanbul with six world powers - - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - ended without a breakthrough after Iran rejected a demand by the powers that it suspends uranium enrichment.

Iran has said that its position would be unchanged.

Larijani said Iran would soon disclose new nuclear achievements but gave no further details.

It is widely expected that on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran would start the operational phase of the new uranium enrichment site of Fordo, south of the capital Tehran.

A team from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is scheduled to visit Iran later this month to inspect the Fordo site.

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