Iran issues threat to regional oil infrastructure

Iran is again threatening the region’s oil infrastructure just as mediators try to revive negotiations with the United States . Tehran says no country in the region would be able to export oil if Iran was prevented from selling its own.

The warning comes as reports suggest that shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have begun to recover, raising the stakes for talks aimed at ending the war .

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has warned that if Tehran was blocked from exporting oil, no other country in the region would be able to do so either.

“The delusional US President (Donald Trump) recently made grandstanding remarks about the Strait of Hormuz and the passage of ships through it – a mere repetition of his earlier claims – even though it’s widely known that his positions are baseless. Both Americans and those in other countries should understand, as we have stated before, that in regions where we do not sell oil, no one will. And if our security is not ensured, no infrastructure can be safe.”

Speaking earlier Tuesday, Qalibaf indicated that regional infrastructure would not be safe if Iran had no security.

“Let the Americans know that the era of intimidation and threats to obliterate this civilized nation has ended. The White House officials must understand that the wise, trailblazing nation of Iran will never back down simply because of pompous rhetoric or air and trade blockades, and that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s response to any aggression or recklessness will be hard, regret-inducing, precise, and swift.”

His remarks follow a Wall Street Journal report that Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz was weakening. The newspaper reports Middle Eastern crude exports had risen to almost 13 million barrels a day this month as more tankers who cross the Strait and Gulf producers use alternative routes.

That figure includes oil shipped through Hormuz and around it; it remains well below the nearly 19 million barrels a day exported before the war but an increase that could, in theory, reduce Iran’s leverage in ongoing negotiations.

During his visit to New York, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi proposed a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on Iran’s nuclear programme. In return, Tehran sought an end to US military action and its naval blockade, relief from sanctions, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

Iran also wanted the agreement to address fighting in Lebanon – part of an offer publicly reject by the US President Donald Trump while contacts through mediators continued.

“ I’m rejecting their deal. They want to make a deal where they open the (Hormuz) Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly. You know, you don’t read that, or you don’t see that in the fake news. But we’re winning tremendously. We have total control of the Hormuz Strait; massive amounts of oil are coming out of the Hormuz Strait. Last night we had 29 ships come out. They want to make a deal, and I think that’s fine. I like making a deal, too…but I’m not…that deal would not be acceptable. And what they want to do is immediately open the Hormuz Strait. You know why? Because they’re dying. You know why they’re dying? Because they have no money coming in. Because they get their money from the Hormuz Strait. So, they outsmarted themselves.”

VIDEO | On Saturday President Donald Trump rejected the Iran’s deal to end the war in the Middle East:

Given the public rhetoric, the question now is whether the reported recovery in oil shipments creates an opening for a deal — or raises the risk of yet another escalation in the seven-month conflict that has seen energy costs skyrocket.