Long-seething
tensions in the Middle East are coming to a boil once again as
tit-for-tat verbal salvos between the U.S. and Iran have moved beyond
tweets and declarations alone and are now shifting toward the realm
of concrete actions and demonstrations of military force.
On
Thursday, U.S. officials reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) began large-scale naval exercises in the Persian
Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and Strait of Hormuz. Hundreds of IRGC personnel
and dozens of small fast craft are taking part in the war games,
which come months ahead of schedule.
Analysts
are interpreting the measure as a warning from Tehran to Washington
that if Iran is prevented from selling its oil to world markets
through sanctions or other means, the country reserves the right to
retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz to U.S. oil tankers.
Twenty percent of the world’s oil is transmitted through the
artery, which is seen as the world’s most important transit point.
Seyed
Hossein Nahavi-Hosseini, the spokesman of Iran’s parliamentary
commission on national security and foreign policy, confirmed the
defense strategy to Russian outlet Sputnik, noting that the country
would secure its interests in case the U.S. remains committed to
choking off Iran’s economy.
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