IRGC rattles sword at Gulf oil trade after Rouhani threat

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed to attack oil exports from the Gulf, with Maj Gen Qassem Soleimani, the commander, issuing a letter backing President’s Hassan Rouhani’s threat of retaliation against US sanctions.

The Iranian leader said that Tehran would not be alone in suffering an oil sales drop should the US force the shutdown of its order book.

“I kiss your (Rouhani’s) hand for expressing such wise and timely comments, and I am at your service to implement any policy that serves the Islamic republic,” said Maj Gen Soleimani. The exchange prompted the US military to issue reassurances that the Gulf trade routes would be defended from any attack or Iranian threat.

Capt Bill Urban, a spokesman for Central Command, said the US stood “ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever international law allows”.

The Iranian leader travelled to Europe this week in an effort to secure support for its international trade that would shield its economy in the aftermath of the US decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement.

US pressure on Iran forced the Japanese prime minister to cancel a visit to Iran this month. Shinzo Abe has abandoned plans for what would have been the first visit by a Japanese leader in 40 years during his tour of the Middle East that starts on July 11.

Mr Rouhani met Austrian leaders yesterday after a visit to Switzerland that failed to secure commercial contracts.

The visit to Vienna went ahead despite a diplomatic dispute over the arrest of a Iranian diplomat who is the suspected mastermind of a plot to bomb a Paris rally.

A large proportion of Iran’s oil revenues and banking ties will be at stake if neither can be protected by the EU. Iran would be left with little incentive to remain in compliance with the deal.

Yet proposals to ensure European finance to bypass American sanctions have been met with scepticism by EU member states faced with threats to European exports to the US worth more than US$435 billion (Dh1.59 trillion).

Iran is the bloc’s 66th biggest trading partner with exports of less than $24bn.