The European Union has announced that its oil embargo against Iran will take effect as planned on July 1.
The Associated Press reports that the EU issued a statement on Monday indicating that all oil contracts with Iran will be halted on this date, and European insurance companies will no longer insure ships carrying Iranian crude.
Last January, EU member states agreed to impose an oil embargo on Iranian oil as of July 1 to force Iran to end its uranium enrichment program.
The West maintains that Iran may be building a nuclear bomb, an allegation that has been repeatedly denied by Iran.
Iranian military officials have responded to the news of the oil embargo by issuing threats that they would block the Strait of Hormuz, which sees the transfer of close to 20 percent of the world’s daily oil needs.
In the most recent statement by an Iranian military official, Major-General Mostafa Izadi, the deputy head of Iranian armed forces, announced that Iran would respond to threats with threats, adding that “if the people of Iran are put in danger, we will use all possibilities, and the Strait of Hormuz is one of them.”
The United States, which has a fleet in the Persian Gulf, has warned that it will not allow any interruption in the traffic on the Strait of Hormuz.
