Paul Scicchitano and Kathleen Walter
Newsmax
29 Dec 2011
Respected Middle East expert Walid Phares tells Newsmax.TV that Iran is playing a “very dangerous game” by threatening to close the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route – a move that the Obama administration is unprepared to stop.
“The Iranian regime does saber rattling, thinking this is a good strategy. But at the same time this is a very dangerous business because they may choose to stop shipments coming to the [Persian] Gulf or through the Gulf as a result of our sanctions and that of course is going to draw United States, European, NATO and international response,” Phares warns in an exclusive interview on Thursday.
“The Iranians are playing a very dangerous game here even by issuing those statements and by deploying some of their ships in the Gulf.”
And, Phares said, the Obama administration has clearly failed to contain the Iranian regime thus far. The situation in the Middle East is looking increasingly bleak just as the nation is pulling out of Iraq.
“The Obama administration tried. It had done some sanctions. It made statements, but the results are in what we see on the ground,” according to Phares. “The Iranian regime today is stronger than it was ever before.”…
…“It is very important on the one hand to make sure we have a national reserve of oil open for business in America. That has to be done,” he insists. “On the other hand, making sure to contain Iran: These are the two pillars of our oil policy in the future, I hope.”
The complete article, with video, is at Newsmax.
