Iran May Shut Hormuz, Will React to Sanctions, Press TV Reports

Iran can shut the Strait of Hormuz and won’t let the West undermine its national interest with sanctions, Press TV said, citing lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh.

Iran has a “right” to shut down Hormuz, the Persian Gulf passageway for about 20 percent of globally traded oil, and the U.S. is aware that it won’t be able to control global developments that may lead to such an action, Falahatpisheh said today, Press TV reported.

European Union foreign ministers agreed today to ban oil from Iran starting on July 1 and petrochemical imports as of May 1, and to freeze central bank assets, to put pressure on the country’s nuclear program. President Barack Obama signed a bill on Dec. 31 tightening sanctions on Iran by denying access to the U.S. financial system to any foreign bank that conducts business with the Central Bank of Iran.

“Tehran will not grin and bear it when its interests are undermined,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a lawmaker who heads the national security and foreign policy committee in Iran’s capital, said yesterday, according to Press TV.

To contact the reporter on this story: Emre Peker in Ankara at epeker2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net