Iran threatens to use oil as weapon in nuclear row

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Published: MARCH 11, 2006 16:15
Iran on Saturday made a thinly veiled threat to use oil as a weapon if the UN Security Council imposed sanctions to force it to resolve questions about its nuclear program. "If (they) politicize our nuclear case, we will use any means. We are rich in energy resources. We have control over the biggest and the most sensitive energy route of the world," Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. If sanctions are decided by the Security Council, Pourmohammadi warned, the international community would be harmed more than Iran. Iran is a major oil and natural gas producer and has partial control over the narrow Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf. The straits are vital for the export of crude from the oil-rich Gulf region, with key producers like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq heavily dependent on the waterway.