UAE | General
East-west channel being planned for UAE oil exports
UAE moves to secure alternative shipment routes in case of conflict between Iran and US.
- By Duraid Al Baik, Associate Editor
- Published: 23:53 September 22, 2008
- Dahi Khalfan Tamim speaks at his majlis in Dubai. The Dubai Police Chief said Iran cannot hold the region hostage to its confrontation with the West.
- Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
Dubai: Oil supplies from the Gulf will not be interrupted even in case the conflict between Iran and the US becomes a full scale confrontation, Dubai Police chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said on Sunday.
The UAE is considering a safe route for its oil exports in case the Arabian Gulf becomes too dangerous for tankers, he added.
The rough details of the project were revealed at an informal Ramadan gathering at Tamim's majlis, which was attended also by prominent UAE economic expert Mohammad Al Asoomi.
Tamim said Iran cannot hold the region hostage to its confrontation with the West, and that the authorities in the UAE are seriously considering the expansion of export terminals on the east coast with a possibility of creating a channel between the east and west coasts to divert shipping away from the Straits of Hormuz.
Apart from the advantage in terms of security of the east-west channel, he said its economic feasibility is also proven, since this will considerably cut the time required to sail around the Straits.
Tamim said the safety of shipping in the Gulf must not become a bargaining chip in the confrontation between Iran and the West. He called on Iranian leaders to refrain from threatening to cut off the sea link in the Gulf if they were attacked by the US.
Lifeline
In a rare reaction to Iran-ian leaders' threats against shipping movements in the Gulf, Dahi told Gulf News that the Gulf states respected Iran as a neighbouring Muslim country and maintained strong bonds with its people, but will not accept the closure of free movement in the Gulf which he described as the 'vein of life' for the whole region.
"Our strong bond with Iranians does not mean that the governments in the GCC will not react strongly to any action that will endanger their social stability and economic prosperity," he warned.
Dahi agreed Iran has an issue with the US over its nuclear enrichment programme and the GCC is neutral in this conflict. "We are in favour of a peaceful resolution to the conflict because this would be in the interest of all people on the rim of the Arabian Gulf, including Iranians. The leaders of Iran should try to come out of this situation with minimum damage.
"This doesn't mean that they [Iranians] can cut the life of their neighbours if they can't confront the US directly," Tamim said.
He acknowledged that Iran might have 'sleeping agents' in the region.
"My advice to them is to keep their agents sleepy because it is not in the interests of Iranians in the region to destabilise the host countries. By the same token, the GCC can support millions of non-Persian citizens in Iran to claim their basic rights which they have been deprived for ages," Tamim said.
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