Closing Hormuz will be suicidal, experts warn

Any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz would be suicidal and provoke a military action to destroy Iran’s military capabilities and not only to reopen the international strategic waterway, military and security experts warned yesterday. “Blocking the Strait of Hormuz would be suicidal and provoke an immediate and aggressive military action by an international alliance that is the most powerful and formed in a record time to completely destroy Iran’s armed forces especially maritime capabilities and not only to reopen the strategic waterway,” Dr Riad Kahwaji, CEO, INEGMA — Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a regional crisis management conference. Dr Kahwaji said the UAE, which sits at the northern entrance of the Strait of Hormuz, would play a key role in any operation in reaction to the closure of the international waterway through its distinguished, growing military, air and naval forces, and being a party to defence pacts with its neighbours and allies. Major General Pilot Khalid Abdullah Al Buainain, former commander of the UAE’s Air Force and Air Defence, said the Gulf states have outstanding experience in ensuring the safety and freedom of navigation in the Gulf, gained from the Iran-Iraq war, that lasted for eight years. He stressed international maritime law guarantees unimpeded transit through waterways, and any deliberate military disruption is an act of war, that will be met by a swift military action. Al Buainain said while closing the Strait of Hormuz may be possible for Iran for four to five days only, an international coalition would prevail in a conflict with Iran in order to reopen the strategic waterway at a great cost to the Iranian armed forces. He stressed blocking of the Strait of Hormuz would only enrage the international community, as their economies would severely be affected without its oil imports from the Gulf and the ensuing high oil prices. UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has said ensuring free and safe navigation in international waterways, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, is the responsibility of all major importers of oil, including the Big Five, not just of Gulf states. “No party, be it the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran or the international community, will benefit from the blocking of international waterways,” Shaikh Abdullah told a joint news conference with his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba in the capital last week. Citing what he termed positive language by Iranian officials recently, Shaikh Abdullah hoped that Iran will seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Saudi Arabia supplies 30 per cent of Japan’s oil imports, with another 20 per cent coming from the UAE, 10 per cent from Qatar and 9 per cent from Iran. An oil export pipeline from Habshan oil terminal in Abu Dhabi to Fujairah that will bypass the Strait of Hormuz will be ready by the middle of 2012, Energy Minister Mohammad Bin Dha’en Al Hameli said. The pipeline will ensure safe flow of the UAE’s crude oil exports. “We made it very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz,” US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta was quoted as saying. Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi, general manager of the National Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, said there are national plans to respond to all threats to the country. “Strategic food, medical and other reserves are sufficient to meet needs of the people for several months,” he said. Nuclear radiation detection centre “The Gulf Cooperation Council member countries are seriously considering setting up a nuclear radiation detection laboratory,” Dr Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, told a regional crisis management conference, organised by the Institute for Near East and Gulf military Analysis yesterday. Al Zayani added the move was part of plans to cope with all risks and upgrade “our countries’ preparedness in this area”. Al Zayani expressed hope that Iran would give up threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, which would severely affect the international community and their economies.