While the global powers are speculating over the possibility of an Israeli military strike against Iran, many analysts are saying that such an endeavor would steeply raise the price of oil. As a preemptive attack by Israel —  on its own — seems increasingly more likely, oil has already increased $1.17 a barrel to $115.73, the highest price in the last two months.

An attack on Iran would likely increase the cost of oil even more dramatically, however. In 2006, when Israel and the United States began to take issue with Iran’s nuclear program, Iran responded by dispatching its Revolutionary Guards to deploy mines in the Strait of Hormuz (photo), through which one-third of the world’s oil passes.

One defector of the IRG explained, “The plan is to stop trade.” Political blogger Kurt Nimmo reports:

The deployment was mentioned in a plan produced by the Strategic Studies Center of the Iranian Navy in 2005. It also called for a single operational headquarters integrated with Revolutionary Guards missile units, strike aircraft, surface and underwater naval vessels, Chinese-supplied C-801 and C-802 anti-shipping missiles, mines, and coastal artillery, according to the intelligence office of the Ministry of Defense in Iran.

According to the Revolutionary Guard defector, Iran has “more than 100 targets, including Saudi oil production and oil export centers. They have more than 45 to 50 Shahab-3 and Shahab-4 missiles ready for shooting” against those targets and against Israel.

Click here to read the entire article.

Photo: The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial 20-mile-wide sea link between the Persian Gulf oil-exporting nations and shipping lanes to oil-importing nations: AP Images