Iran has warned that any fresh US strike on its assets would trigger retaliation, pointing to the region’s vast and vulnerable energy infrastructure and saying American oil and gas interests would be exposed as well.
“Strike our assets and you get struck,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said after US and Iranian attacks on shipping over the weekend sent oil prices to six-week highs at one stage on Monday.
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On Sunday, senior Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran would announce plans in the coming days for a new restricted zone in the Gulf. He added that Iran would soon approve maps for a new shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has suspended traffic through the strait, a crucial route for global oil and gas supplies, since the war began on 28 February with US and Israeli strikes.
“We will only commit to the Strait of Hormuz being open when they (the Americans) stop the sabotage, threats and attacks on Iran,” Mr Rezaei said.
Mr Qalibaf’s warning underscored Tehran’s defiance and appeared to answer a recent claim by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Iran’s oil tanker fleet was “defenceless”.
“It’s simple: the oil and gas production chain here is sprawling, accessible, and exposed. American oil and gas companies across these waters and facilities share that exposure,” Mr Qalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator, wrote on X.
“Strike our assets and you get struck. We’ve already proven it. Ask the bases that are no longer viable,” he added, referring to Iranian attacks on US military bases across the region during the conflict.
Iran and US exchange attacks
US President Donald Trump has yet to secure the objectives he outlined when he launched “Operation Epic Fury” in February: ending Iran’s nuclear programme, curbing its ability to attack neighbouring countries and creating conditions for Iranians to remove their leaders.
Iran’s clerical rulers remain in power and are seeking to emerge from the war in a stronger position. Tehran is demanding the removal of sanctions and hopes to collect fees from vessels using the strait, through which one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments passed before the conflict.
Military exchanges had largely paused through much of August, but tit-for-tat attacks resumed after an interim ceasefire agreed in June began to unravel. Efforts to revive the peace process have made little progress.
Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub was attacked by the US at the weekend
US forces hit three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, including one near Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, the US Central Command said. The strikes followed attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on US warships in the region.
Tehran has demonstrated that it still has the capacity to target US interests in neighbouring countries and disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping data showed that an average of 10 commodity vessels crossed the strait each day during the previous 10 days, the lowest level since May.
The disruption helped drive oil prices higher on Monday. Brent crude futures LCOc1 reached $97.93 a barrel, their highest level since July 24, before retreating to $96.19.
Sanctions, oil blockade squeeze economy
Iran has pledged to intensify efforts to address the economic damage caused by US sanctions.
But three senior Iranian sources said the US campaign to squeeze the country by blocking oil exports and disrupting sanctions-evasion networks was becoming increasingly difficult for Tehran to withstand.
Mr Qalibaf said over the weekend that, alongside the military campaign, Iran’s central struggle was now protecting production and people’s livelihoods. He identified currency volatility, inflation, unemployment and the management of markets as major challenges.
The conflict has also spread economic and security risks to oil-producing Gulf Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, which has faced Iranian missile attacks and assaults on its oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the UAE president, said the country was developing alternative routes for energy exports and trade so they would not be “held hostage” to the war.
The effects of Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have reached the United States as well, where fuel prices have risen.
The increase has damaged Mr Trump’s popularity as his Republican Party prepares for November elections that will determine control of Congress.
