Foreign Warships Will Need Iran's Permission to Pass through Strait of
Hormoz
News number: 9007270216 16:47 | 2012-01-03
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9007270216

TEHRAN (FNA - FARS news agency)- All foreign warships will soon be unable to
pass through the Strait of Hormoz unless they first receive a permission
from the Iranian Navy ships deployed in the region, an Iranian
parliamentarian said, adding that the country's lawmakers are now working on
a relevant plan as the strategic waterway is part of the Iranian
territories.

"If the military vessels and warships of any country want to pass via the
Strait of Hormoz without coordination and permission of Iran's Navy forces,
they should be stopped by the Iranian Armed Forces," Nader Qazipour told
FNA, explaining about the contents of the plan.

He underlined that the plan will be presented to the parliament's presiding
board next week.

In relevant remarks on Monday, another Iranian legislator stressed that Iran
will use all its capabilities and possibilities to defend the country
against foreign threats and the country will use the Strait of Hormoz as a
defensive tool and will close the waterway if it comes under threat.

"Iran will definitely use the defensive potential of the Strait of Hormoz if
it is faced with threats," Rapporteur of the parliament's National Security
and Foreign Policy Commission Kazzem Jalali told FNA.

Iranian lawmakers and officials have recently warned enemies that Iran is
entitled to the right to close the strategic oil lifeline as a defensive
option against foreign invasion.

"The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is not on the Islamic Republic of
Iran's agenda (at present), but if threats against Iran come to trample upon
the rights of our nation while others use the strait for exporting their
oil, then Iran will be entitled to the right to close the Strait of Hormuz,"
member of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Taqi Rahbar told FNA late
December.

"The international conventions reserve such rights for the Islamic Republic
of Iran as well," Rahbar underscored.

The lawmaker, however, said, "For the time being, the Islamic Republic of
Iran has not decided to close the strait, but this (closing the strait)
depends on the conditions of the region."