Iran poses a mortal blow to US global hegemony due to its growing political sway across the region as well as its huge oil reserves, an analyst says.

Finian Cunningham, an expert on international affairs, wrote in a column for Press TV that Iran presents a “greater and more problematic challenge” than North Korea to “US global hegemony.”

    “Iran exerts a controlling influence over the vital drug that keeps the American economic system alive - the world’s supply of oil and gas,” he said.

Cunningham warned that any possible military strike on Iran would end in a “deathblow to the waning American and global economy.”

The analyst added that another “reason why Iran presents a mortal challenge to US global hegemony is that the Islamic Republic is a formidable military power,” citing the Islamic Republic’s almost “80-million-strong people committed to anti-imperialism.”

    “Any strike from the US or its allies would result in a region-wide war that would pull down the very pillars of Western geopolitical architecture, including the collapse of the Israeli state and the overthrow of the House of Saud and the other Persian Gulf oil dictatorships,” warned Cunningham.

The US, Israel and some of their allies have falsely accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and Tel Aviv repeatedly threatening Tehran with a military strike.

The US and European Union have also used the unfounded allegation as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran.

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, noting that as a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.