Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Sunday that oil shipments from the Gulf region would be disrupted if the United States attacked his nation, but his threat was dismissed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Khamenei also insisted in a speech broadcast live on state-run radio that Tehran will not give up its right to produce nuclear fuel. He added that Iran is not seeking a nuclear bomb as the West suspects.
"If you make any mistake (invade Iran), definitely shipment of energy from this region will be seriously jeopardized. You have to know this," Khamenei said.
He added that if there was a disruption, the United States and its allies could not secure all the oil shipments that transit close to Iran's coast. Much of the world's oil supply passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
"You will never be able to protect energy supply in this region. You will not be able to do it," he said, addressing the West.
Rice told "Fox News Sunday" that "we shouldn't place too much emphasis on a threat of this kind" because Iran also has an interest in protecting its major source of revenues.
"What we should place emphasis on is Iran's opportunity to find a way out of this impasse," Rice said.
Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and second-biggest power within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Iranian officials repeatedly have ruled out using oil as a weapon in the nuclear standoff with the West.
Western nations have offered an incentives package to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program. If Tehran refuses, the nations threaten U.N. sanctions.
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Photos and video of the last time U.S. and Iranian naval forces clashed in the Persian Gulf are posted at NoHigherHonor.com.
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