US opinions to confront closing of Hormuz Strait not operational economic analyst
US opinions to confront closing of Hormuz Strait not operational: economic analyst
TEHRAN- Ali Ashraf Afkhami, an economic analyst, believes that the US opinions to confront closing of the Strait of Hormuz are not operational, and the outlook for oil price reduction is weak.
In an interview with IRNA, he said that Iran’s strategy in the management of vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz is a legal defensive tools, adding that the US approaches to prevent from oil price rising are not operational and cannot reduce the oil prices in a stable way.
He added: “I believe that we have no way rather than managing the vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz; in addition, the existence of the American military bases in the Persian Gulf littoral countries and using them in the war against Iran proves that our defensive strategy is legal.”
Answering to this question that to prevent from the effects of closing this strait on the global economy, specially the oil price, the US has announced various strategies over the two past weeks, including the escorting of vessels, offering $20-billion insurances, and even using strategic oil reserves and removing some part of sanctions on Russia, why these strategies could not return the oil price to below $100 per barrel, the analyst said: “The idea of escorting the vessels is not still done, and considering Iran’s capabilities, such things essentially doesn’t seem practical, because the West considers the cost of such thing very high, and in addition to the effects of rising energy prices, it increases the risks of their human losses.”
Afkhami further commented that continuing this process which rises energy prices and puts pressure on the global economy seems a legal defensive tools for Iran, because it was the US and Israel who started the war.
Meanwhile, Fereydoun Berkashli, an international analyst in the oil and energy sector, believes that disruption in the Strait of Hormuz paralyzes global economy.
In an interview with IRNA, the analyst said that a new storm is being shaped in the Persian Gulf, when oil prices have sharply risen following the US-Israel attack on Iran.
The wars in the West Asia over the past decades have always led to rising global oil prices, and reactions have been severe specially in the Persian Gulf region, he stated, adding that the US-Israel attack on Iran on February 28 sent a new wave to the market.
Despite the sharp rise in the prices, the market reaction was weaker than expected, the analyst noted, and commented that the severe condition seems not still understood.
He continued that oil is produced in the West Asia, but its price is set in the exchange markets of America and Europe; the global oil market receives its analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, the entity that its addresses are the world’s main oil and gas consumers, so the analysis of big consumers plays determining role in the market status.
The international analyst believes that the key factor ignored in the geo-economic calculations of the US is the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 million barrels of oil passes, of which 80 percent goes to Asia. China, India, Pakistan, and ASEAN countries are highly dependent on the West Asia oil, the Europe has small share of the Persian Gulf oil, but there is the global independence of refineries and need for the oil and gas products.
He underscored that any interruption in the Strait of Hormuz can paralyze the global economy.
MA
source: tehrantimes.com