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Irans ensidiga vapen: makten att blockera Hormuzsundet | National Geographic

The European Union this week approved a ban on crude oil imports from Iran from July 1, a five-month delay designed to give Greece, Spain and Italy time to find alternative supplies.  Athens buys about a third of all its oil supplies from Iran. Financial Times January 25, 2012

Reuters, 23 January 2012 Article   Video

Iran will in the “near future” start enriching uranium deep inside a mountain, a senior Iranian official said Sunday, a move likely to further antagonize Western powers that suspect Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons capability. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/world/middleeast/iran-will-soon-move-uranium-work-underground-official-says.html?ref=world

Nice pic of Carrier too U.S. aircraft carrier group near Strait of Hormuz saves group of Iranians captured by pirates | News | National Post

The biggest buyer of Iranian oil, China, is “unlikely” to be affected and has already expressed opposition to what it termed “unilateral” sanctions against Iran. The US Treasury Department said in a statement that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will travel to Beijing and Tokyo to discuss “continued coordination with international partners in the region to increase pressure on the Government of Iran." http://www.cnbc.com/id/45882423

Both former Gov. Romney and former Sen. Santorum are hard critics of the Obama administration’s handling of the country that Romney sees as America’s largest threat. Both men have said they would bomb Iran if that country persisted in its stated drive to develop nuclear weapons. http://www.cnbc.com/id/45882054

Various Iranian officials in recent weeks have said they would blockade the strait, which is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, if the United States and Europe imposed a tight oil embargo on their country in an effort to thwart its development of nuclear weapons. That did not stop President Obama from signing legislation last weekend imposing sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank intended to make it more difficult for the country to sell its oil, nor did it dissuade the European Union from moving toward a ban on Iranian oil imports. http://www.cnbc.com/id/45880946

Since it doesn’t have nuclear weapons yet, Iran is playing the lone trump card in its hand: threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz through which Persian Gulf oil flows to fuel much of the world’s economy. Iranian navy chief Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told state television Wednesday that it would be “very easy” for his forces to shut down the chokepoint. “Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway,” he said as his vessels continued a 10-day exercise near the strait. Read more: http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/12/28/can-iran-close-the-strait-of-hormuz/#ixzz1iVMHPRKW Can Iran Close the Strait of Hormuz? | Battleland | TIME.com

Iran threatens to block Strait of Hormuz oil route BBC 28 December 2011 Carter Doctrine The Carter Doctrine was a policy proclaimed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union Address on January 23, 1980, which stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf region. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_Doctrine