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‘Either Everyone Sells Oil Through Strait of Hormuz or No One Does’ – Iranian MP
from Sputnik News:
Iran has moved naval forces into the Strait of Hormuz, the source of 20% of the world’s oil, in a display of force aimed showing its ability to shut down the artery. The move follows Tehran’s adoption of a strategy of ‘smart economic resistance’ aimed at disarming US sanctions. Sputnik spoke to specialists about the details of Tehran’s approach.
The ‘smart economic resistance’ strategy, announced by Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri last month aims at staving off the consequences of the US “economic war against Iran.” According to the senior official, Tehran has “drawn up the necessary mechanisms” and “planned for the worst case scenarios” to disarm the effects of US sanctions.
Speaking to Sputnik Persian, Seyed Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini, spokesman of the Iranian parliament’s commission on national security and foreign policy, confirmed that one of the points of Tehran’s ‘smart economic resistance’ strategy will be the tit-for-tat closure of the Strait of Hormuz to American oil tankers if Iranian oil exports are threatened.
“Iran has access to the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. It would be illogical if the other countries in this region could sell their oil, while Iran could not,” the politician said.
“Iran’s strategy here is as follows: either everyone sells their oil, or no one does. Iran has the capability to do this and the Americans know this,” Naghavi-Hosseini stressed.
Map of Strait of Hormuz
Furthermore, the lawmaker noted, Iran, enjoying some of the richest reserves of oil and gas in the world and serving as a “strong player” on the global energy market, can develop partnerships with major world economies, from Southeast Asia and Latin America to India and Africa, with whom Tehran “could easily cooperate” to take much of the sting out of US sanctions threats.
Last month, Vice-President Jahangiri noted that the country has some $200 billion worth of oil and gas projects at the ready for Iranian and foreign companies to take advantage of.
Two Elements to ‘Smart Economic Resistance’
Hoshayr Rostami, an independent economist and analyst at Canadian financial consulting firm Finapath, told Sputnik Persian that Iran’s geostrategic location is an advantage which allows it to resist American pressure.
In Rostami’s view, there are two ways to implement the strategy of ‘smart economic resistance’. First, the country’s leadership must come to rely more on non-oil revenues, specifically taxation, since this does not fall under sanctions. The analyst pointed out that in the past year, government revenues from taxation already topped revenues from oil sales. Along with oil and natural gas, Iran is also a major exporter of plastics, chemicals, iron and steel, fruits and nuts, fertilizers, salts, copper and aluminum.
