The Strait of Hormuz, Iran and the risk to oil

Iran said on Tuesday it will not rule out using oil as a weapon if the United States resorts to military action against the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme.

Iran’s OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, told Iran’s Sharq newspaper it could use oil as a “tool” and stop its exports to world markets that would result in an oil shock.

Analysts also fear Iran, OPEC’s second largest exporter, could seek to impede traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in any retaliation by threatening merchant shipping. U.S. naval chiefs are concerned that Iran could resort to mining the strait and the wider Gulf in a major conflict.
Reuters