US consider blocking Iran's petrol imports

http://www.theage.com.au

THE Obama Administration is considering an extreme economic sanction against Iran if it fails to negotiate on its nuclear program: cutting off the country’s imports of petrol and other refined oil products.

In a visit to Israel last week, President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser, James Jones, noted that as many as 70 senators would support legislation that would give Mr Obama the option of taking action against companies around the world that supply Iran with 40 per cent of its petrol, according to Israeli officials.

The White House has refused to detail the contents of Mr Jones’ discussions with the Israelis. But other Administration officials said they believed his goal was to reinforce Mr Obama’s argument that the Israeli Government should stop hinting about a military attack against Iran’s nuclear plants if no progress was made this year. Instead, it should give the Administration time to impose what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called ‘‘crippling sanctions’’ that might force Iran to negotiate.

The Bush administration considered, and rejected, trying to cut off petrol to Iran, which produces oil but does not have enough refining capacity to meet its own needs for petrol. Enforcing such an embargo has long been considered risky and extremely difficult; it would require the participation of Russia and China, among others, who profit from trade with Iran.

The Islamic republic has threatened to respond by stopping oil exports and closing shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at a time when the world economy is highly vulnerable.

Mr Obama has mentioned such a strategy before, during a presidential debate in October with Senator John McCain. European diplomats confirmed that in recent weeks they have held private talks with US officials about whether to move towards such a strategy if Iran continued to ignore Mr Obama’s deadline to begin talks by the opening of the next United Nations session in mid-September.