US warns Iran's leader not to block key oil route

Jan 13, 2012, 16:25 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 at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Arabian Gulf. About 20 per cent of the world's daily oil trade is shipped through the Strait, where Iran conducted military drills this month.

The main US concern 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 and planned EU measures 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 purely civilian.

The European Union is working to finalize a package of sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector by the end of next week.

EU diplomats said the sanctions, which would be approved EU foreign ministers on January 23, could be delayed by six months to allow Greece, Italy and Spain, who are heavily dependent on Iranian oil imports, to find alternative sources, diplomats said.

EU officials are discussing on a clause stipulating that the impact of the sanctions on the EU economy and oil prices should be examined periodically.

'It's not there just yet, but there is a growing consensus' that ministers should decide a six-month delay, one diplomat told dpa.

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, another diplomat said.

Delaying the implementation of oil embargoes on existing contracts was normal practice, he said. New oil deals, however, will be banned immediately.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog is discussing with Iran details of a visit by its inspectors late this month, said diplomats in Vienna, where the agency is based.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report last year that Iran had tested designs normally used to make a nuclear weapon.

Iran on Friday welcomed a new round of talks with world powers on its nuclear programme, days after the IAEA said Tehran had started to enrich uranium at 20 per cent at a new site at Fordo.

'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 US - ended without a breakthrough after Iran rejected suspending uranium enrichment.

Russian Deputy Premier Dmitry Rogozin said in Brussels that his country would pursue a 'very harsh policy' to make sure that Iran does not build nuclear weapons. He urged all sides to show restraint.

'So we would like to say to everyone: Calm down, draw a bit of a low profile in the discussion on Iran,' he said.

Iran has said its position would be unchanged.

It is widely expected that on the occasion of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in February, Iran would start the operational phase at Fordo.

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