Iran warns oil tankers transiting Strait of Hormuz must be careful

Oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz “must be very careful,” the spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned on Monday.

The spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, also defended Iran’s attacks on Gulf states, telling CNBC’s Dan Murphy that targeting “military bases and assets” belonging to the United States in the region is “legitimate under international law.”

The price of crude oil has sharply spiked past $100 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed.

“As long as the situation is insecure, I think all tankers, all maritime navigation, must be very careful,” said Baghaei, who is also head of the Center for Public Diplomacy.

He said that Iran will fight against the U.S. and Israel “as long as it takes,” and that his nation is preparing for every possible scenario, including a potential ground invasion.

Baghaei predicted Iran will “unite around” new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected over the weekend to succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran.

“The state institutions, the people, the authorities, have all shown that they would unite around the new leadership,” Baghaei said.

He dismissed the suggestion by U.S. President Donald Trump that the United States should have any say in selecting Iran’s leader.

“I think it’s a basic principle of international law and civility that the nation decides for themselves, free from the foreigners’ intervention,” Baghaei said. “It is the absolute, unique right of the Iranians to decide about their leadership, about their system, and I think it’s absolutely unlawful for any politicians, for any person outside Iran to say who should rule Iran.”

Asked why Iran has targeted Gulf states, with attacks on desalination plants in Bahrain, oil refineries in Saudi Arabia and civilian infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates, Baghaei said, “We are only defending our country against the aggressors.”

“What we are doing against military bases and assets belonging to the aggressors to the United States in the region, is legitimate under international law,” he said. “We are defending ourselves under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter. And all military bases, installations and assets that in any form or manner are being used to help the aggressors are regarded as legitimate targets.”