Not ‘a liter of oil’ to cross Strait of Hormuz, expect $200 price: Iran | US-Israel war over Iran news

The warning comes as 400 million barrels of oil are being released from global reserves during the closure of the waterway.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it will not allow “one liter of oil” through the Strait of Hormuz as the closure of the key Gulf waterway continues to roil global energy markets amid the US-Israeli war over Iran.

A spokesman for the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters said Wednesday that any ships connected to the United States and Israel or their allies are “considered legitimate targets.”

“You cannot artificially lower the price of oil. Expect oil at $200 per barrel,” the spokesman said in a statement. “Oil prices depend on regional security and you are the main source of insecurity in the region.”

Global oil prices have fluctuated wildly this week amid the ongoing US-Israeli offensive against Iran, which has retaliated by firing missiles and drones at targets across the wider Middle East.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply is transported, and a slowdown in production in some Gulf countries have raised fears of further disruption.

Concerns about the duration of the war, which began on February 28 and show no sign of abating, are fueling uncertainty to send oil prices soaring.

On Wednesday, three ships were hit by missiles in the Strait of Hormuz, including a Thai-flagged cargo ship that was attacked about 11 nautical miles (18 km) north of Oman, maritime security and risk agencies said.

Release of oil reserves

World leaders, including members of the Group of Seven (G7) and the European Union, are considering what action to take in response to the war’s impact on the global economy.

Christian Bueger, a professor of international relations at the University of Copenhagen and an expert on maritime security, said Europe would face a “major energy supply crisis” if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.

“Right now for the shipping industry, going through the Strait of Hormuz is impossible,” Bugar told Al Jazeera. “And unless there are strong signals that they may try to get through the strait in the near future, we’re looking at a major shipping crisis that could last for weeks, if not months.”

On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that its 32 member countries had unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves to try to lower prices.

“This is an important step aimed at alleviating the immediate effects of disruptions in markets,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a speech from the agency’s headquarters in Paris.

“But to be clear, the most important thing to return to a steady flow of oil and gas is the resumption of transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

The IEA said in a statement, without elaborating, that reserve supplies would be made available to each member state “within an appropriate timeframe”.

German Economy and Energy Minister Katharina Reiche said the country would comply with the release while Austria said it would make available part of its emergency oil reserves and expand its national strategic gas reserves.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it would release about 80 million barrels from its private and national oil reserves.

Japanese Prime Minister Sane Takaichi said the country, which gets 70 percent of its oil imports through the Strait of Hormuz, would begin releasing reserves from Monday.