Middle East
Iran denies test-firing long-range missiles in Gulf
Iran has denied reports by state media that it test-fired long-range missiles during military exercises in the Gulf. "The exercise of launching missiles will be carried out in the coming days," Iran's senior navy commander is quoted as telling Iran's Press TV. Earlier the semi-official Fars news agency and other outlets reported that land-to-sea missiles had been fired. The naval exercises come at a time of increased tensions between the West and Iran over its nuclear ambitions. On Tuesday Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil export route, if new sanctions were imposed over its nuclear programme.
US warns Iran against closing oil route
The US has strongly warned Iran against closing a vital Gulf waterway, after Iran threatened to choke off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz if the US imposes sanctions targeting the country's crude exports. The increasingly heated exchange raises new tensions in a standoff that has the potential to prompt military reprisals and push up oil prices to levels harmful to an already fragile global economy.
Why Iran can’t cut off your oil
Regardless of how we assess the credibility of Iran's threats, we should also assess Iran's capabilities. Iranian military exercises apparently emphasize three weapons in the strait: small suicide boats, mobile antiship cruise missiles, and sophisticated sea mines. Using these tools, how hard would it be for Iran to disrupt the flow of oil?
Despite threats, Iran unlikely to block oil shipments through Strait of Hormuz
Iran to ‘block’ Gulf oil if sanctions proceed
No oil will be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if the West applies sanctions on Iran's oil exports, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi has warned. The threat was reported on Tuesday by the state news agency IRNA as Iran conducted its fourth day of naval drills near the Strait of Hormuz, at the entrance to the oil-rich Arabian Gulf.
Iran ‘rehearses closing gulf oil route’
Iranian naval forces launch a massive 10-day exercise Saturday near the Strait of Hormuz, the only way in and out of the Persian Gulf, in what is widely seen as a rehearsal for a threatened closure of the strategic global oil artery if the country is attacked. The Iranians have billed the Velayat-90 drill as the largest they have conducted. It will involve the Islamic republic's navy, which includes three Russian-built, Kilo class submarines, and the naval wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps