Description

It's been a wild couple of weeks worth of speculation regarding Iran's nuclear programme - how advanced it might be, how certain the International Atomic Agency should be of its weaponised nature, and what, if anything, can or ought to be done about halting it.

So far, two options have been discussed: More sanctions (which have been done for 30 years) and war.

As pundits and politicos alike whip themselves into a froth arguing if, when, and how Iran should be the target of a military strike from the United States or Israel, Iran seems more interested in wielding a tool it already has in hand: Oil. Or, more specifically, oil transport routes.

Roughly 40 per cent of all tradable oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke point running along Iran's southern and eastern borders, on its way to the world market.

But all Iran's oil minister, Rostam Qasemi, told Al Jazeera was that if pushed, Iran would be willing to use oil as a political tool.