One of Germany's top newspapers, Der Spiegel, is reporting today that Iran has a secret plan to confound Western sanctions and to cause massive disruption to world oil supplies.

According to intelligence reports acquired by Western secret services, General Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, has a plan code-named "Murky Water" which envisages what Spiegel calls "a senseless act of sabotage: to intentionally cause an environmental catastrophe in the Strait of Hormuz.".

More than 20 percent of the world's oil supplies move through these narrow straits and Israeli and American officials are acutely aware of Iran's intentions to cause major disruption should an attack be launched against the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities.

But Der Spiegel suggests that in the wake of major disturbances in Iran as sanctions bite ever harder, the country's leadership is growing impatient and is considering plans for something spectacular regardless of what may transpire in regards to its nuclear facilities:

"The goal of the plan," the paper says, "seems to be that of contaminating the strait so as to temporarily close the important shipping route for international oil tankers, thereby "punishing" the Arab countries that are hostile to Iran and forcing the West to join Iran in a large-scale cleanup operation -- one that might require the temporary suspension of sanctions against Tehran."

In practical terms, a massive spill would be effected by Iran steering one or more of its enormous VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) supertankers onto the rocks. Each of these VLCC supertankers can carry around 2 million barrels of crude oil.

Western defence ministries were unavailable for comment.