WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- The United States could inflict "immense" damage on Iran's oil industry in the event of war, a U.S. military expert has warned
"Iran is acutely dependent on oil revenues, and ... attacks on its refineries and power plants could do immense retaliatory damage," Anthony H. Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke chair in strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, warned Monday in a study entitled "Iran, Oil and the Strait of Hormuz."
"In mid-September of 2006, reports also surfaced that the U.S. Navy was reconsidering older plans for blocking two Iranian oil ports near the Straits of Hormuz. This apparently was accompanied by a 'prepare-to-deploy' order for several mine-warfare vessels. In February 2007, a second aircraft-carrier group was deployed to the Persian Gulf, and reportedly plans to send a third one were considered," Cordesman wrote
"Iran is also as vulnerable to attacks on its oil platforms and loading facilities in the Gulf as the Southern Gulf states," he wrote.
Relations between the United States and Iran remain tense following the approval by the United Nations Security Council in December and last week of two resolutions calling for economic sanctions against Iran if it continues to defy the international community over its nuclear development program.
