Iranian military authorities were refusing to comment on Monday on the remark of an Iranian lawmaker (Parviz Sarvari[1] or Parviz Sorouri[2] or Parvis Sorouri[3], depending on the source) that "Soon we will hold a military maneuver on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure." -- "About a third of all sea-borne shipped oil passed through the Strait in 2009 . . . and U.S. warships patrol the area to ensure safe passage," Reuters noted.[1] -- "Oil surged above $100 a barrel [as much as 3.6%] on speculation supplies will be disrupted" after the news was published, Bloomberg reported.[2] -- "About 15.5 million barrels of oil a day, about a sixth of global consumption, flows through the Strait of Hormuz," Bloomberg noted in another piece.[4] -- Business Insider reported Tuesday that the price spike occurred because "ZeroHedge reported real-time analyst Ransquawk confirmed the straight was closed," though in fact "the Strait is wide open and it's not yet known how the rumor originated."[5] -- The semi-official Fars News Agency reported Tuesday that "Iran has warned that in case of an attack by either the U.S. or Israel, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormoz [sic -- in Farsi, "Tangeh-ye Hormoz" or "تنگه هرمز". According to Wikipedia, "Scholars, historians, and linguists derive the name 'Ormuz' from the local Persian word هورمغ 'Hur-mogh' meaning date palm. In the local dialects of Hurmoz and Minab this strait is still called Hurmogh." --R.T.]."[6] ...
1.
World
IRAN ARMY DECLINES COMMENT ON M.P.'s HORMUS EXERCISE REMARKS
Reuters
December 12, 2011
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111212/wl_nm/us_iran_hormuz
TEHRAN -- A member of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee said on Monday that the military was set to practice its ability to close the Gulf to shipping at the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the most important oil transit channel in the world, but there was no official confirmation.
The legislator, Parviz Sarvari, told the student news agency ISNA: "Soon we will hold a military maneuver on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure."
Contacted by Reuters, a spokesman for the Iranian military declined to comment.
Iran's energy minister told Al Jazeera television last month that Tehran could use oil as a political tool in the event of any future conflict over its nuclear program.
Tension over the program has increased since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on November 8 that Tehran appears to have worked on designing a nuclear bomb and may still be pursuing research to that end. Iran strongly denies this and says it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Iran has warned it will respond to any attack by hitting Israel and U.S. interests in the Gulf and analysts say one way to retaliate would be to close the Strait of Hormuz.
About a third of all sea-borne shipped oil passed through the Strait in 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and U.S. warships patrol the area to ensure safe passage.
Most of the crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Iraq -- together with nearly all the liquefied natural gas from lead exporter Qatar -- must slip through a 4-mile wide shipping channel between Oman and Iran.
(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi, writing by Mark Trevelyan; editing by David Stamp)
2.
IRAN TO HOLD WAR GAME CLOSE TO STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Tehran Times
December 13, 2011
http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/93462
TEHRAN -- MP Parviz Sorouri of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has said that Iran plans to practice its ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important chokepoints, which accounts for about 30% of the world’s seaborne oil shipments.
“Currently, the Middle East region supplies 70 percent of the world’s energy needs, (most of) which are transported through the Strait of Hormuz. We will hold an exercise to close the Strait of Hormuz in the near future. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure,” ISNA quoted Sorouri as saying on Tuesday.
3.
Business report
OIL SURGES ON SPECULATION OF SUPPLY DISRUPTION, U.S. STIMULUS
By Morning Zhou and Mark Shenk
Bloomberg Businessweek
December 13, 2011
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-13/oil-surges-on-speculation-of-supply-disruption-u-s-stimulus.html
Oil surged above $100 a barrel on speculation supplies will be disrupted after a report that Iran will hold drills to close the Strait of Hormuz and that the Federal Reserve may announce additional stimulus measures.
Crude advanced as much as 3.6 percent after the state-run Fars news agency reported the military maneuvers will be "soon," citing Parvis Sorouri, a member of the parliament's national security and foreign policy committee. The Strait of Hormuz is a bottleneck for oil exports from the Persian Gulf.
"There have been a number of rumors floating around the market today," said Tom Bentz, a director with BNP Paribas Prime Brokerage Inc. in New York. "I saw the Iran story yesterday but those headlines seem to have got traction this morning. There are also rumors for further action by the Fed, but where they come from I don't know. In this electronic world things can jump quickly and trigger stops."
Crude for January delivery gained $2.40, or 2.5 percent, to $100.17 a barrel at 10:21 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, futures touched $101.25 a barrel. Prices have risen 9.6 percent this year.
Brent oil for January settlement increased $2.41, or 2.3 percent, to $109.67 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
"There are no headlines to explain this move," said Stephen Schork, president of Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania. "With no headline explaining this move, one has to look at the usual suspects. It was probably a fat-fingered mistake or a margin call."
--With assistance from Anthony DiPaola in Dubai, Alexander Kowalski in New York and Ladane Nasseri in Tehran. Editors: Margot Habiby, Dan Stets
To contact the reporters on this story: Moming Zhou in New York at
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; Mark Shenk in New York at
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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at
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4.
IRAN TO HOLD MILITARY DRILL FOR CLOSING HORMUZ STRAIT, FARS SAYS
By Ladane Nasseri
Bloomberg News
December 13, 2011
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/12/13/bloomberg_articlesLW4YHF1A1I4J.DTL
Iran's military is set to conduct drills for closing the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck for oil exports from the Persian Gulf, the state-run Fars news agency reported, citing parliamentarian member Parviz Sorouri.
"Soon we will hold a military maneuver on how to close the Strait of Hormuz," said Sorouri, a member of the national security and foreign policy committee, according to Fars. "If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure." His comments first appeared yesterday on the website of the state-run Iranian Students News Agency before the report was withdrawn without an explanation.
About 15.5 million barrels of oil a day, about a sixth of global consumption, flows through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
5.
OIL PRICES GO NUTS AFTER RUMORS THAT IRAN CLOSED THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
By Robert Johnson
Business Insider
December 13, 2011
After threatening to practice drills meant to close the crucial Strait of Hormuz, rumors had Iran shutting the strait down and oil prices went crazy.
ZeroHedge reported real-time analyst Ransquawk confirmed the straight was closed and it was enough to send traders scrambling.
Seeking Alpha reported, "Crude oil spikes $2 in minutes to $100.45/barrel on a report Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz "until further notice," for a military exercise."
By 10:40 a.m. EDT oil had jumped from $98.590 before the rumor, to $101.25 at its peak, and has settled to $100.30 -- still sitting almost $2 higher than before the supposition began.
We reported on this threat yesterday, and most experts believed the boast wasn't a credible possibility.
Bloomberg reports the Strait is wide open and it's not yet known how the rumor originated.
This story is developing.
6.
MP: IRAN TO STAGE MILITARY DRILL TO CLOSE STRAITS OF HORMUZ
Fars News Agency
December 13, 2011
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9007277151
TEHRAN -- A member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said the military was set to practice its ability to close the Persian Gulf to shipping at the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the most important oil transit channel in the world.
"Soon we will hold a military maneuver on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure," Parviz Sorouri said.
Israel and its close ally the United States have recently intensified their war rhetoric against Iran. The two arch foes of the Islamic Republic accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.
Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Iran has, in return, warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv.
The United States has long stressed that military action is a main option for the White House to deter Iran's progress in the field of nuclear technology.
Iran has warned it could close the strategic Strait of Hormoz [sic] if it became the target of a military attack over its nuclear program.
Iran has warned that in case of an attack by either the U.S. or Israel, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormoz.
An estimated 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes through the waterway. [NOTE: A considerable exaggeration. --R.T.]
Iran's naval power has even been acknowledged by foes. In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy also said that in the two decades since the Iraqi imposed war on Iran, the Islamic Republic has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.
According to the report, Iran's Navy has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world's oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.
The study says that if Washington takes military action against the Islamic Republic, the scale of Iran's response would likely be proportional to the scale of the damage inflicted on Iranian assets.
Meantime, a recent study by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a prestigious American think tank, has found that a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities "is unlikely" to delay the country's program.
The ISIS study also cautioned that an attack against Iran would backfire by compelling the country to acquire nuclear weaponry.
A recent study by a fellow at Harvard's Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Caitlin Talmadge, warned that Iran could use mines as well as missiles to block the strait, and that "it could take many weeks, even months, to restore the full flow of commerce, and more time still for the oil markets to be convinced that stability has returned."
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