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Russia hopes blocking of Strait of Hormuz can be avoided — Russian Deputy Prime Minister

According to Alexander Novak, of all the world's oil exports, about one-third comes from the Persian Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuz

ST. PETERSBURG, June 19. /TASS/. Russia hopes that Iran doesn’t follow through on its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, because that would lead to a surge in oil prices, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Naila Asker-zade on the Vesti program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"I hope that such force majeure will not happen, but nothing can be ruled out. This uncertainty naturally affects the market, and the market will certainly react somehow," he said.

Novak recalled that of all the world's oil exports, about one-third comes from the Persian Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Therefore, for the market, of course, this [the closure of the Strait] would be a shock. We hope that this will not happen. After all, it would always be reasonable for the market and for future investments for price volatility to be as low as possible," he added.

About Israeli-Iranian conflict and possible closure of Strait of Hormuz

On the night of June 13, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, aimed against the Iranian nuclear program. Less than 24 hours later, the Islamic Republic carried out a retaliatory strike. In the following days, Tel Aviv and Tehran exchanged attacks again. Both sides reported casualties and damage, and acknowledged several facilities had been hit, but stated that the damage was limited.

Amid all this, Esmail Kowsari, a member of Iran’s Parliament Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy, announced that Iran, after the attacks by Israel, is considering the possibility of closing the Strait of Hormuz and "will make the appropriate decision without hesitation." Iraqi Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Iraq Fuad Hussein stated that further aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, caused by the confrontation between Iran and Israel, could cause oil prices to rise to $200-300 per barrel. He noted that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could lead to the loss of approximately five million barrels per day of said oil entering world markets from the Persian Gulf and Iraq.

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