Iran Says U.S. May `Seriously Endanger' Oil Flows

[beltman713]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aqljF84XlEyg&refer=top_world_news

Iran Says U.S. May `Seriously Endanger' Oil Flows


June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the U.S. risked disrupting oil shipments from the Persian Gulf region that pumps about a quarter of world supply over its opposition to his nation's nuclear program.

The U.S. could ``seriously endanger energy flow in the region'' by acting against Iran, Khamenei said today in a speech given on the anniversary of the death of former leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The remarks were carried on the official Islamic Republic News Agency Web site. ``Any wrong move'' by the U.S. could affect energy supplies, IRNA said.

The U.S., China, Russia and three European states struck an agreement last week on ``far-reaching proposals'' aimed at persuading Iran to curtail its nuclear program, U.K. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said June 1.

``The Iranians are supreme card players and want to extract concessions from the U.S. before they do a deal,'' Anthony Harris, a former U.K. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said in a phone interview today. U.S. President George W. Bush and ``Americans are vulnerable in the Middle East because of high oil prices,'' Harris said.

Oil touched $75.35 on April 21 and 24, the highest since trading began in 1983, spurred by concern that Iran may seek to curtail oil flows from the Persian Gulf in the event of a U.S. military strike against its nuclear facilities.

Khamenei said Iran is in a stronger position than the U.S. because ``Bush faces protests and public wrath wherever he steps on earth,'' IRNA reported.

Rumsfeld

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday his government was waiting for Iran to respond to a range of incentives to encourage the Islamic Republic to abandon any nuclear weapons development.

The U.S. says it suspects that Iran's atomic plans are cover for building a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it's trying to build an atomic bomb and says its program is intended to produce energy for peaceful use.

Iran, which pumps 3.85 million barrels a day of crude, is strategically located to shut off exports of about 17 million barrels a day of oil from the Gulf region through the Straits of Hormuz.

[beltman713]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=ar4vr_o1Q0YU&refer=us

Rice Dismisses Iran's Threat to Disrupt Oil Supply

(Beltman713: Notice how the Bush administration always likes to appear like they are in complete control, even when everything is crashing down around them. "We don't need to worry about threats from Iran.")

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed Iran's threats to disrupt energy supplies in a confrontation over its nuclear program, saying the Persian Gulf country is too dependent on revenue from oil.

Rice was reacting to remarks made earlier today by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said in a speech the U.S. could ``seriously endanger energy flow in the region'' by making ``any wrong move'' to halt Iran's nuclear development.

"We shouldn't put too much emphasis on a threat of this kind,'' Rice said on the "Fox News Sunday'' program. "After all, Iran is also very dependent on oil revenue."

The U.S., China, Russia and three European nations are offering Iran, holder of the world's second largest oil and natural gas reserves, a package of incentives to re-engage in negotiations on its nuclear program if the government in Tehran abandons efforts to enrich uranium. The U.S. contends Iran is heading toward development of nuclear weapons; Iran says it is seeking to develop nuclear plants to produce electricity.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to cut oil supplies if the U.S. takes military action or the United Nations imposes sanctions. Rice said that because Iran depends on oil revenue for about 80 percent of its budget, a disruption in output ``would be a very serious problem for Iran.''

Iran pumps 3.85 million barrels a day of crude and is strategically located to shut off exports of about 17 million barrels a day of oil from the Gulf region through the Straits of Hormuz.

Rising Prices

Oil touched $75.35 on April 21 and 24, the highest since trading began in 1983, spurred by concern that Iran may seek to curtail oil flows from the Persian Gulf in the confrontation. Crude oil for July delivery traded at $72.33 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

``The Iranians are supreme card players and want to extract concessions from the U.S. before they do a deal,'' Anthony Harris, a former U.K. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said in a phone interview today. ``Americans are vulnerable in the Middle East because of high oil prices.''

Khamenei, in the address carried by the official Islamic Republic News Agency, said Iran is in a stronger position than the U.S. because President George W. Bush is the most unpopular leader in the world. Bush `` faces protests and public wrath wherever he steps on earth,'' Khamenei said, according to IRNA.

Incentives

One of the incentives offered to Iran was U.S. agreement to join France, Germany and the U.K. in direct talks with the Tehran government. Rice traveled to Vienna last week to craft a unified diplomatic strategy with the three European governments and Russia and China.

Iran should receive the proposal ``in the next few days,'' Rice said. She declined to reveal the specific components of the incentive package until Iran has a chance to review them.

``We're not going to react to everything the Iranian leadership says,'' Rice said in a separate interview on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' program.

Rice declined to set a deadline for a response from Iran to the proposal, while emphasizing that the U.S. was not prepared to go into extended negations.

``We really do have to have this settled over a matter of weeks not months,'' Rice said on Fox. ``We will not allow Iran to drag this out.''

The offer gives Iran a chance to avoid sanctions from the UN Security Council, said U.K. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett last week, who spoke on behalf of the six governments. All except Germany hold vetoes on the council.

In a reversal of past policy, the U.S. agreed to join in the talks with Iran if the six parties can verify that Iran is stopping uranium enrichment, a step toward building a bomb as well as supplying fuel for nuclear reactors. The offer was part of an effort to win backing from China and Russia for the U.S. strategy.

Rice repeated that the U.S. won't stop Iran from gaining civilian nuclear technology as long as the government isn't able to enrich uranium.

``I hope it will be very clear to the Iranian government that this is the international community's way of giving them an opportunity to resolve this impasse favorably, with a civil nuclear program that would be acceptable to the international community,'' she said on CBS.