Editing Strait of Hormuz (section)

====Iranian defence policy====
On 29 June 2008, the commander of [[Iran's Revolutionary Guard]], [[Mohammad Ali Jafari]], said that if either [[Israel]] or the United States attacked Iran, it would seal off the Strait of Hormuz to wreak havoc in the oil markets. This followed more ambiguous threats from Iran's oil minister and other government officials that an attack on Iran would result in turmoil in the world's oil supply.

Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet stationed in Bahrain across the Persian Gulf from Iran, warned that such Iranian action would be considered an act of war, and the U.S. would not allow Iran to hold hostage nearly a third of the world's oil supply.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374905,00.html |title=U.S. Navy Commander Warns Iran: Don't Try Closing Gulf Oil Passageway |publisher=Fox News |date=2 July 2008 |access-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020081555/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374905,00.html |archive-date=20 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 8 July 2008, Ali Shirazi, a mid-level clerical aide to Iran's Supreme Leader [[Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]], was quoted by the student news agency [[Iranian Students' News Agency|ISNA]] as telling the Revolutionary Guards, "The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran. If they commit such a stupidity, [[Tel Aviv]] and U.S. shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran's first targets and they will be burned."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-attack-usa-idUSLYO82850220080708 |title=Iran to "hit Tel Aviv, U.S. ships" if attacked |publisher=[[Reuters]] |last=Hafezi |first=Parisa |date=8 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317104538/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-attack-usa-idUSLYO82850220080708 |archive-date=17 March 2016}}</ref>