Tehran: Iran reiterated it would close the Strait of Hormuz unless sanctions against it were revoked amid the significant military presence near the vital oil shipping channel.
The Iranian parliament is considering a bill calling for the strait to be closed. The assembly has little control over national defense and foreign policy decisions and, while the bill would be largely symbolic, it would indicate the legislature’s support behind any leadership decision to close the strait, Reuters reported.
“(Under the bill) the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will continue until the annulment of all the sanctions imposed against Iran,” lawmaker Javad Karimi Qoddousi was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
The bill will be taken up by the country’s parliament this month, said another lawmaker, Seyed Mehdi Moussavinejad, Fars reported.
Foreign and national defence policy rests with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
An Iranian official said on Sunday that the UAE pipeline would not be able to meet the world’s oil demand if the Strait of Hormuz were closed.
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