Basij Commander: West annihilated if Iran stops oil supplies

Commander of Iran's Basij (volunteer) force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi underlined ineffectiveness of the US and European sanctions against Tehran, and said if Iran stops supplying crude to the western states, they will be annihilated. "The western sanctions against Iran will prove to be in vain," Naqdi told FNA in the holy city of Mashhad in Northeastern Iran on Saturday. "If Iran closes its oil valves to the West, they will be annihilated," he added. In relevant remarks earlier this week, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had also dismissed oil sanctions against Iran by the EU and other western countries, saying the world is in dire need of Iranian oil supplies. "Imposing sanctions on Iranian oil is not a wise move, and the market would pay a high price for it," Qassemi said, explaining that there will be no replacement for Iranian oil in the market. "I believe Iranian oil has a unique place in the market, and in terms of its volume and quality there is no replacement for it." Despite recent talk about imposing sanctions on Iranian oil, European Union members have failed to reach a consensus in this regard. With some EU members heavily dependent on Iranian oil, a European boycott of Iran's energy sector looks impossible. While there has been mention of Saudi Arabia selling more crude oil in the possible absence of Iranian oil, Qassemi indicated that "the Saudi Oil Minister has completely rejected such an approach." "Iran-Saudi relations are on excellent terms," he added. Qassemi said his Saudi counterpart has vowed that if the western, specially the European, states ban Iranian oil imports, Riyadh would not replace Tehran as their source of crude supplies. Qassemi said he had met with Saudi counterpart Ali Naimi and gained a pledge that the Saudis would refrain from flooding the market with extra oil in case an international embargo on Iranian crude hurt Tehran's ability to sell its petroleum. Qassemi said he spoke to Naimi and Naimi "rejects" the notion "that he wants to replace Iranian crude if Iran faces (such) sanctions."