They Have Opened “Cold Fire” On Iran

04 July 2012 | 15:06 Code : 1903664 From Other Media

Fararu.com's interview with Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh, university professor and international affairs expert

I have no information about the Majlis’ plan to close the Strait of Hormuz and its details, so I cannot make any judgment on this issue. However, regarding the question of whether the Iranian government can block the Strait of Hormuz and the movement of oil tankers sailing towards hostile nations, my opinion has been clear for a long time, and I believe that Iran must consider the different aspects of this issue.

Based on international law, the big oil tankers might be able to move through the southern half of the Strait of Hormuz, an area that is outside of our country's territorial waters. However, I believe that in a war situation, when the Iranian government officially declares that EU sanctions on Iranian oil exports are an act of war against Iran, the government can make the decision to disturb the movement of the afore-mentioned oil tankers, a move that would be of a completely defensive nature.

However, I think that we must wait and see whether there will be a situation of war, and whether the Iranian government will consider EU sanctions as an act of war and officially announce them as so. And then we must await the Iranian response, meaning whether the government would be ready to disturb the movement of oil tankers that plan to deliver oil to countries with sanctions on Iran.

I believe that, in a war situation, conditions would be completely practical for Iran and it could move the median line of the Strait towards the southern part, both practically and physically.

In such a war situation, you only act defensively, because the other side has acted first. In this case, if hostile forces intend to militarily target centers that Iran might use from a distance to disturb movement in the Strait of Hormuz, this will be the start of a physical war by these countries.

If Iran can and wants to consider the cessation of Iranian oil exports to the EU or other countries as a war declaration by them, especially from a legal perspective-- where Iran considers its oil exports to be the main bloodline of the country's economic vitality and naturally considers a move by any world power to cut off this bloodline as a declaration of war-- this declaration will allow Iran to react as it wishes.

In these conditions, how will Western countries react? They will open fire on Iran. And when they put sanctions on Iran's oil exports, they are in essence opening a “cold” fire on Iran. Therefore, we basically see the same thing happening in both cases.

When they intend to halt Iran's oil exports, we must not fool ourselves and think that only exports to Spain and maybe Greece would be halted. In reality, this act would just be an introduction for bigger steps to come, and the political and strategic behavior of the West and the P5+1 has shown us how they gradually expand and generalize this strategic behavior and ultimately pass it as an international law at the United Nations, and completely put a stop to Iran's livelihood.

We are aware of this issue. Therefore, when the EU wants to start the process of stopping Iran's economic livelihood, what difference does it make how Iran reacts?