Iran and Bahrain join in call for “oil weapon” over Israeli atrocities in Gaza

News – English

News numbre:  8710170573

2009-01-06 – 20:42

 

 

 

Iran, Bahrain Call for Oil as Weapon

 

TEHRAN (FNA)- A commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) called on Islamic countries to use oil as a weapon to end the fighting in Gaza, echoing a similar call days earlier by lawmakers in Bahrain.

 

The demands by Brigadier General Mir-Feysal Bagherzadeh on Sunday highlight the depth of anger in the region over the Israeli offensive and the threat it poses to oil prices that recently fell to their lowest levels in years.

 

Benchmark light, sweet crude for February delivery rose $1.36 to $47.70 a barrel early Monday, after earlier jumping to as high as $48.68, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

 

Traders say fighting in the Middle East is partly behind the rise.

 

Bagherzadeh said oil is “a strong factor of pressure” on supporters of Israel in the current “unequal war.”

 

Bagherzadeh, who is in charge of war memorials and is not among the country’s top oil officials, noted the West’s dependence on energy resources from the Muslim world and called for a cut in crude exports to supporters of Israel.

 

Iran’s foreign ministry did not appear to distance itself from the comments when asked about them Monday.

 

“We do support any action for realizing two main steps: an immediate stop to the invasion and an end to the Gaza blockade,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said.

 

The Iranian comments come days after members of Bahrain’s lower house of parliament condemned Israeli attacks on Gaza and told the tiny kingdom’s foreign minister that “all retaliation options” should remain open to Arab governments.

 

Lawmakers said Arab states should use economic weapons such as oil and the region’s vast investment funds to put pressure on the West to help bring an end to the fighting.

 

Iran is second only to Saudi Arabia as OPEC’s largest exporter. Bahrain, a relatively minor oil producer and not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is a key US ally in the Persian Gulf and plays host to the Navy’s 5th Fleet.

 

Arab oil producers most famously used control over oil supplies as a weapon during the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab armies led by Egypt and Syria. Their decision to stop shipments to the US and other allies of Israel preceded a steep spike in the price of oil.