Iranian ayatollah to have final say on closing Strait of Hormuz
Supreme leader holds fate of strategic oil transit route in his hands, official says
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The chairman of Iran’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the decision over whether Tehran would block the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passageway through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows, rests in the hands of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Gen. Hasan Firouzabadi says Iran has a contingency plan to close the key route, but Khamenei, as commander in chief of the armed forces, would have to make the final decision.
Firouzabadi’s comments come two weeks after the European Union enforced a total oil embargo against Iran for its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment program. His comments were reported by the semi-official Fars news agency Sunday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has previously warned that Tehran would order the closure if the country’s oil exports were blocked.
The LA Times reported last week that the US was rushing unmanned bomb-seeking submarines to the Persian Gulf in a bid to make sure the strait stays open.
The Times of Israel Community.