AFP, Riyadh, 13 Jan 2012 – British Prime Minister David Cameron warned on Friday that the ‘whole world’ would take action if Iran closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz, in an interview with the Al-Arabiya news channel.
‘It is in the interests of the whole world that those Straits are open and, if there was any threat to close them, I am sure the whole world would come together and make sure they stayed open,’ Cameron told the channel during a visit to the Islamic republic’s arch-rival in the Gulf.
Cameron’s first visit to OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia comes as Western governments, including Britain, moved to step up sanctions over Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, threatening an embargo on vital oil exports.
The move has drawn an angry response from Tehran which threatened to shut the strait — a chokepoint for a fifth of the world’s oil — if it is attacked or if heavy sanctions are imposed.