Iran Could Block Oil-Transit Strait of Hormuz, Pentagon Says

By Viola Gienger

April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Iran’s build-up of its defenses gives it the capability to block a major Persian Gulf oil- transit route and project military strength on its territory, the U.S. Defense Department’s intelligence director said.

“It does have the ability to restrict access to the Straits of Hormuz with its naval forces temporarily and threaten U.S. forces with missiles,” U.S. Army Lieutenant General Ronald Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Iran has taken steps to strengthen its military defenses and cultivate allied terrorist groups targeting the U.S. and Israel, Burgess told the committee. “Iran can conduct limited offensive operations with its strategic ballistic missile program and naval forces,” Burgess said in a longer written statement.

Committee Chairman Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, is conducting the hearing as the Obama administration seeks to forestall Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon and works to shore up the defenses of other countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The U.S. also is seeking further United Nations sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.

“We have sought to sharpen the choices before the Iranian leadership,” said William Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, who has helped lead the U.S. negotiating strategy.

China’s Support

Burns said it is likely that China will support tougher sanctions on Iran at the UN. The permanent members of the UN Security Council have begun to discuss a possible sanctions resolution.

Levin and Arizona Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the panel, signaled growing impatience with Iran.

“If Iran pursues a weapon, all options including military options should be on the table,” Levin said.

When pressed by Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said there would be consequences to any American military action against Iran.

Marine Corps General James Cartwright told Reed that a military strike against Iran would affect existing U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

--Editors: Edward DeMarco, Bill Schmick

To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Kirk in Washington at jkirk12@bloomberg.net.