Iran hypes war games in Gulf oil corridor

TEHRAN – The head of
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards played up the significance of its war games in the narrow neck in the Gulf through which two-fifths of the world’s oil trade passes.

“The importance of the … maneuvers lies in the time and geographical place they are happening as well as the arms used,” General Yahya Rahim Safavi told the official IRNA news agency.

The Straits of Hormuz, between the Gulf and the Sea of Oman, is a strategic corridor for the oil exports.

Iran has been showing off its military achievements in the Gulf, including radar-evading anti-ship missiles, which analysts fear Tehran could use to cripple maritime traffic and block the Straits if threatened over its nuclear ambitions.

AFP