Iran’s top security body to decide on Hormuz Strait closure in response to US attack
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Iran has long used the threat of closing the Hormuz Strait, through which around 20 per cent of global oil and gas demand flows, as a way to ward off Western pressure.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DUBAI – Iran’s Supreme National Security Council must make the final decision on whether to close the Strait of Hormuz following US bombing raids, Iran’s Press TV said on June 22, after Parliament was reported to have backed the measure.
Iran has long used the threat of closing the strait
The decision to close the strait is not yet final and it was not officially reported that Parliament had in fact adopted a Bill to that effect.
Instead, a member of Parliament’s national security commission Esmail Kosari was quoted on other Iranian media as saying: “For now, (Parliament has) come to the conclusion we should close the Strait of Hormuz, but the final decision in this regard is the responsibility of the Supreme National Security Council.”
Mr Kosari, who is also a Revolutionary Guards Commander, had earlier on June 22 told the Young Journalist Club that closing the strait was on the agenda and “will be done whenever necessary”.
Asked about whether Tehran would close the waterway, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi dodged the question on June 22 and replied: “A variety of options are available to Iran.”
The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Mideast Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond.
It is 33km wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just 3km wide in either direction. REUTERS
