A top military aide to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei emphasized on Sunday that the American navy in the Gulf fall within Iranian missile range,
Yahya Rahim Safavi who served before as the chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened that crude oil prices will exceed the $100 per barrel mark if any clash between the two countries took place.
Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated since US President Donald Trump withdrew from The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed with other major powers, designed to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities.
The Trump administration has tightened sanctions on Iran, notably targeting its key oil exports, and beefed up its military presence in the Gulf, accusing the Islamic Republic of threatening US troops and interests.
“The Americans are fully aware that their military forces (in the region) are within Iran’s missile range and all US and foreigners’ navy in the Persian Gulf are within the range of land-to-sea missiles of the Revolutionary Guards,” Safavi said.
He added that prices over $100 would be unbearable to America, Europe and the US allies like Japan and South Korea, according to Fars news agency.
Last week United States National Security Adviser, John Bolton, said that the attacks which targeted oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates this month were the work of “naval mines almost certainly from Iran.”
Following the attack oil prices jumped to around $71.14 per barrel, after reports of drone attack at oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia, following the two Saudi oil tankers were attacked off the coast of the UAE on Monday.
Egypt’s new draft budget sets the price of Brent crude at $68 per barrel, up from $67 per barrel in the current FY. In the 2017/18 budget, the price of an oil barrel globally was set at $55.
Egypt is highly vulnerable to crude oil price fluctuations, as each $1 increase in the Brent crude’s price would cost the state EGP 4bn, according to the finance ministry.
