DUBAI, Sept. 6 — Iran warned on Sunday that any further attack on its interests would trigger a stronger response, as renewed clashes with the United States raised fears of a wider escalation around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Washington should recognize that the “rules of the game have changed” before it was too late.
“From now on, any attack against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, heavier and more painful response,” Qalibaf said in a speech published on his Telegram channel, according to Reuters.
His warning followed U.S. strikes on three Iranian vessels on Saturday. U.S. Central Command said the operation came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy ships.
The exchange marked another escalation after military activity slowed during much of August. Fighting began six months ago with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. A preliminary ceasefire agreement reached in June later broke down, with little progress reported in efforts to revive negotiations.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran would soon establish a restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz and extending into parts of the Gulf, according to Iranian state media. Ships entering the area would be placed on an Iranian sanctions list, he said, without providing further details.
The strait handled about one-fifth of global oil supplies before the conflict, making continued disruption a risk to energy markets and shipping. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN that more than 9 million barrels of oil were moving through the waterway each day, with regional flows at roughly two-thirds or more of pre-conflict levels.
Iran is also under growing economic pressure from U.S. sanctions and a blockade targeting its oil exports. Qalibaf cited inflation, unemployment, currency volatility and weak market management as major domestic challenges.
Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said Iran would answer the pressure with economic reforms and argued that responsibility for repairing the economy rested with the Iranian government and public, not the U.S. Treasury. The Economy Ministry has expanded an “Economic War Headquarters” tasked with addressing war-related problems, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Iran is expected to release further details of its planned restricted maritime zone in the coming days, a move likely to test already strained security around the Strait of Hormuz.
