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By Parisa Hafezi, Jonathan Saul and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
ANKARA / LONDON (Reuters) – The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said last week that Tehran would be forced to leave the US market. to stop buying Iranian oil from November.
A fifth of total oil consumption by the Strait of Middle East (19659002) PAST ACTIONS
Iran can not legally close the waterway unilaterally because of its existence in Oman's territorial waters.
However, ships pbad through Iranian waters, which are under the responsibility of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Navy.
In 2016, the Guards questioned and held US Iranian territorial waters elsewhere in the Gulf.
A year Iran, Iran, fired shots at a Singapore-flagged tanker which it said damaged an Iranian oil platform and held a container ship and its crew for a week of debt dispute after the strait. In 2007, Iran detained British sailors further north in the Gulf.
Iran also performs war and missiles. The deputy head of IRGC, Hossein Salami said in 2014 that Iran could use its cruise missiles and drones, mines, speedboats, and missile launchers in the Gulf area to confront the United States.
In 2015, the Guards staged a Drill, shown on state television, in which a replica of a US aircraft carrier was destroyed with missiles and speed-boats loaded with explosives while the guards practiced laying mines in the Strait.
In recent years, there have been periodic confrontations between The Guards and US Military in the Gulf.
The US navy has said that from January 2016 to August 2017 there was an average of 2.5 "unsafe" or "unprofessional" interactions between US Navy and Iranian maritime forces, including an Iranian drone flying near US Navy warplane and Iranian military boat sailing close to US Navy vessel. Tehran has accused US forces of provocation.
"Their security and the security of their interests in the region are in our hands" the Guards' Salami said this year, the number of incidents in
During the Iran-Iraq war in 1980-1988 the two sides attacked ships in the Gulf to hamper one another's oil exports in the Tanker War.
In 1988, a US frigate struck an Iranian mine, blowing a hole The US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) said in its hull and breaking its keel. The United States destroyed two Iranian oil terminals, sank an Iranian warship and other damaged, the ONI said.
MILITARY BALANCE
The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, is tasked with protecting commercial ships in the area. (19659002) "Navy Capt, Navy Capt." (19659002) "We have the forces we need to maintain the flow of commerce and the freedom of navigation," Navy Capt . Bill Urban, US Central Command spokesman told Reuters.
Western navies also stage military exercises in the Gulf and Arab states across the Gulf from Iran, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have high-tech naval capabilities.
An ONI report said last year that Iran's Guards' naval doctrine was "based on speed, numbers, stealth, survivability, and lethality" and that it had "aquired fast attack craft, small boats, anti-ship cruise missiles and mines."
"Individually However, these improvements can not compete with Western technology., However, they may be set up in a more comprehensive way than in the United States, especially when they are employed by the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, "the ONI said. .
The US has said it would be used to protect the environment
Michael Connell, head of the Iran program with U.S. non-profit research body CNA, said of all Iran's capabilities, "mines were probably the one that caused the most concern. He also said that it would have been more likely that a direct trigger would be more likely than a blockade of the Strait.
"I would be less worried about getting stuck in the world. a conflict, "he said.
NEGOTIATING TACTIC?
" Iranian officials differ in the significance of the latest threat to the strait.
"By calling on countries to cut their oil exports from Iran, America has already Statement on Iran, "a senior Iranian official and a former Revolutionary Guards commander who served during the 1980s war on Iraq."
"If we come to that point of not being able to export any oil, we will surely close the waterway. "
Another official, who like the first part of the world, because of the sensitivity of the issue,
Iran has said it would remain in the d 1965,,,,,, 1965 [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[1965196519651965196519651965
Everyone should know that Iran can not be pressured, "the second senior Iranian government official said."
(Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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