Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has lashed out at US President Barack Obama for his being ‘frightened’ to confront Iran’s clout.
“This president obviously has a very big problem in standing up to the Iranians in any form... H is afraid to stand up to Iran," said Santorum at a Wednesday debate of GOP presidential candidates in the city of Mesa, in Arizona State.
The former Pennsylvania senator repeated Washington’s allegations against Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and insisted on military options as an approach to halt Tehran’s progress in nuclear technology.
Other presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich made reference to Iran’s contingency plan to block the Strategic Strait of Hormuz and called on Washington to search for alternative resources for its oil and gas demands in an attempt to reduce its reliance on the Middle East energy supplies.
Tensions between Iran and the US over the Strait of Hormuz escalated after Washington and the European Union imposed sanctions against Iran's oil sector.
On December 27, 2011, Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that imposing sanctions against the country's energy sector would prompt Tehran to prevent oil cargos from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuz is statistically one of the world's most important shipping lanes, as almost 35 percent of seaborn oil passes through it.
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