Test Missiles In The Strait Of Hormuz : Iran

Iran test-fires missiles in Strait of Hormuz exercises

Iran test-fired two missiles Monday, the final day of its naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, state-run media reported.
The Qader missile, a long-range sea-to-shore missile, was fired during the "power" stage of the maneuvers, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. The test was successful, and the missile hit its intended targets, according to the report.
A large number of the long-range surface-to-sea Qader missiles have already been delivered to the Iranian Armed Forces," IRNA said.
A surface-to-surface Nour missile was also successfully tested Monday, according to Iran's Press TV.
The Nour is an "advanced radar-evading, target-seeking, guided and controlled missile and can easily find its target and destroy it," IRNA reported, quoting 2nd Adm. Seyed Mahmoud Musavi.
Iran's navy test-fired a number of medium-range and long-range missiles in the final stage of the naval drills," Press TV said.
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A short-range Nasr missile would also be test-fired Monday, IRNA said.
Iran began the exercises in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman on December 24, IRNA said. Western diplomats have described the maneuvers as further evidence of Iran's volatile behavior.
Iran also successfully test-fired a medium-range, surface-to-air and radar-evading Mehrab missile on Sunday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. A submarine also successfully fired torpedoes at mock vessels, according to the report.
Fars added that plans for Monday involve "a new tactic which is designed to prevent any movement in the Strait of Hormuz if the Iranian navy so desires."
The French Foreign Ministry said Monday the missile tests send a "very bad signal to the international community."
We want to underline that the development by Iran of a missile program is a source of great concern to the international community," the ministry said in a written statement. That's why Iran is prohibited from "pursuing any activity on ballistic missiles
capable of delivering a nuclear (war)head," per a U.N. Security Council resolution, the statement added.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he believes the Iranian exercises and missile tests reflects "the dire straits of Iran in light of the tightening sanctions around her, including the considerations in the last few days regarding the sanctions of exporting petroleum as
well as the possibility of sanctions against the Iranian Central Bank."
Because of their "dire situation," Barak said, Iran is "pulling out the envelope of threats in order to deter the world from continuing the sanctions."
The naval exercises focused attention on the strait -- a shipping channel leading in and out of the Persian Gulf between Iran on one coast and Oman and the United Arab Emirates on the other. It is strategically important because tankers carrying oil travel through it -- some 15
million barrels daily in 2009, according to the U.S.
Energy Information Administration.
Iran last week threatened to close the strait over planned sanctions targeting its oil industry and companies that do business with Iran's Central Bank. The sanctions are intended to force Iran to curtail its nuclear program.
The Obama administration was quick to say any closure would be unacceptable and vowed to keep the strait open. But Iran's Press TV reported on Saturday the nation has no plans to close the strait.
The French Foreign Ministry statement emphasized the need for the "freedom of navigation" in the strait.
On Sunday, Fars reported that Iran had succeeded in building and testing the country's first domestically produced nuclear fuel rod. The rod was successfully tested and installed in the core of a research reactor in Tehran, the news agency said, citing the nation's atomic energy agency website.
Iran has repeatedly insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian energy purposes only. But it has rebuffed demands to halt its production of enriched uranium, and a November 8 report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog found "credible" information that Tehran has carried out work toward nuclear weapons
including tests of possible bomb components.
In December, the United States as well as several other Western and Asian nations announced increased sanctions against Iran in an international effort to tighten the screws around the suspected nuclear weapons program.
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Iran Threatened To Raise The Price Of Oil

Crude oil prices recorded an increase of the longest (rally) in more than one year as the Iranian threat to block transport through the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. consumer confidence beat expectations on this December.

Two things that bring the price of oil for February delivery rose 1.66 U.S. dollars, or 1.7 percent, to 101.34 dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Tuesday (12/27/2011) local time. That's the highest price since 16 November 2011, in which oil prices have risen for six consecutive sessions, which is the longest rally since 8 November 2010.

Meanwhile, Brent oil for determination of February rose 1.31 dollars, or 1.2 percent to 109.27 dollars per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. This European premium contracts for oil in New York to 7.93 U.S. dollars per barrel, is the smallest price difference based on the price determination since 20 January.

The threat of Iran's increasingly bold," said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC, in Texas, Tuesday.

According to the Iranian News Agency, Vice-President Mohammad Reza said Iran would block the transmission through the strait if the country is prohibited from exporting its oil. These restrictions associated with the nuclear weapons program that belongs to the Middle East countries.

The threat does not necessarily have any impact on the market, but if it has to do it (the threat) will have a major impact (on market)," said Schenker.

In addition, oil prices also rose in the U.S. Conference Board's index reached the highest level since April. This condition is also raising the price of oil futures. During the year 2011, crude oil futures have risen 11 percent, while oil prices this past year grew 15 percent.

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Iran To Move Enrichment Operations If Necessary

Iran will move its uranium enrichment plants to safer sites if conditions make this necessary, the semi-official Mehr news agency on Wednesday quoted a senior Revolutionary Guards commander as saying.

Controversy over Iran's uranium enrichment program has resulted in Western powers imposing increasingly tight economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, and Israel and the United States say they have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to persuade Tehran to suspend its sensitive nuclear work.

"If conditions require, we will move our uranium enrichment centers to safer places," Mehr quoted Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali as saying.

Western powers suspect Iran is trying to acquire the ability to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying it is enriching uranium only for peaceful purposes such as power generation and medical use.

Israel, widely believed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, says a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten its existence.

A November report by the U.N. watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency suggested that Iran has been pursuing the science needed to make an atomic bomb at least until 2003.

Iran has enriched uranium to 20 percent purity, a level which Western states say is more than it needs for peaceful nuclear power. But 20 percent pure uranium is still not pure enough to make a bomb.

Iran says its response to any military action will be "painful."

"If the Americans and Israelis could attack our nuclear facilities and inflict a blow on it they would have surely done it," said Jalali, head of Iran's Civil Defense Organization.

A hardline lawmaker, Parviz Sarvari, on Monday said OPEC member Iran planned to carry out military maneuvers near the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, where about 30 percent of the world's crude exports pass through.

But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman dismissed the lawmaker's remarks, saying it was Sarvari's personal view and did not represent Iran's official view.

However, Iranian officials have in the past warned about the

closure of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz as a possible retaliatory measure if the country's nuclear facilities were attacked.

Concerns over Iran's disputed nuclear work and threats to key shipping lanes drove up oil prices by more than $2 to post its biggest gain since late November on Tuesday, in sharp contrast to a fall in most other financial markets.

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