Iran: Hormuz Strait should serve regional interests

Tehran, Feb 17, IRNA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a press conference on Tuesday that Iran will strongly defend the security of Hormuz Strait so that it will serve the regional nations’ interests.

He made the remarks in response to a question by the Lebanese LBC network’s reporter who said that Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal has considered blocking of the strait by Iran as a declaration of war.

Ahmadinejad said that he has not heard such a thing to be quoted from him.

“I think that all the regional nations are trying to safeguard the security of the strait,” he said.

Of course some who have been defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan make suggestions so as to create tension in the region but they will get nowhere, Ahmadinejad said.

In response to another question regarding sanctions on gasoline, he said that Iran imports some 15 to 17 million liters a day and it can also produce such an amount of gasoline by itself.

Stating that necessary steps have been taken to attain self-sufficiency in producing gasoline, he added that currently raw materials for producing gasoline are produced inside the country but they are exported.

The government is never worried about procuring domestic consumption, Ahmadinejad concluded./end