TEHRAN: Iran is to move its main oil export terminal from the Gulf to the Oman Sea, President Hassan Rouhani announced on Tuesday, sparing its tankers from using the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Rouhani said exports were already being shifted from the Khark Island terminal, deep in the Gulf, to Bandar-e-Jask in the Oman Sea and would be completed by the end of his term in 2021.

“This is very important for me, it is a very strategic issue for me. A major part of our oil sales must move from Khark to Jask,” Rouhani said in a televised speech as he inaugurated three new petrochemical plants in the southern energy hub of Asaluyeh. To reach the oil terminal on Khark Island, tankers must currently pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, slowing down deliveries.

Iran has in the past repeatedly threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz - which is used by its Gulf rivals including Saudi Arabia - when faced with sanctions on its oil exports and possible military action by the US. The latest threat was in July when Rouhani said Iran has always guaranteed the security of the strait but warned the US “should not play with the lion’s tale.”

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2018