TEHRAN: Iran said it will step up efforts to tackle problems created by the US sanctions that are crippling its economy, while a senior Iranian official warned of a “painful response” if it comes under further attack.
Six months after US-Israeli strikes against Iran, the war appears to be at a stalemate. A preliminary ceasefire accord reached in June has unraveled and little progress has been made in diplomatic efforts to get the peace process back on track.
After a pause in military action for much of August, tit-for-tat strikes have resumed with US Central Command (CENTCOM) saying it hit three Iranian tankers on Saturday in response to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launching ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships.
CENTCOM said on Sunday that as of September 6, US forces have redirected 92 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two to ensure strict compliance as CENTCOM forces continue to enforce the maritime blockade against Iran.
Following the attacks, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the US should understand that the rules of the game in the war against Iran have changed “before it is too late.”
“From now on, any attack against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, heavier and more painful response,” he said in a speech published on his Telegram channel.
Sanctions, oil blockade squeeze economy
However, the US campaign to throttle Iran’s economy by blockading its oil exports and stopping sanctions evasion is growing increasingly difficult to withstand, three senior Iranian sources have said.
In his speech on Sunday, Ghalibaf added that alongside the military front, Iran’s main battle was now over production and people’s livelihoods.
He cited sharp currency fluctuations, inflation, unemployment and market management as major challenges, adding Iranians could tolerate hardship but not mismanagement or inaction and expected the government to act quickly.
Iran’s Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said that Tehran planned to respond to US economic pressure with reforms and rejected the idea that sanctions would cause it to change course, according to state media on Sunday.
“They speak of economic pressure and isolation, of breaking off financial ties and they think that by pressuring the economy of a country they can change the decisions of its people,” Madanizadeh said.
“I have to clarify one point: The responsibility of reforming Iran’s economy is with its government and people, not with the US Treasury.”
Separately, Economy Ministry deputy Morteza Zamanian said on Sunday that the ministry’s “Economic War Headquarters” was doubling down on its work to resolve problems caused by the war, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Kharg Island hit 550 times in prior months, Iran says
Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and exported 90 percent of its crude via its Kharg Island export hub before the war. Flows have been disrupted since a US blockade of Iranian oil exports began in mid-April.
On August 31, Trump issued a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video depicting Kharg Island being “blown to smithereens.” Iranian authorities have vowed a strong response if Kharg is attacked.
In an interview aired on state TV on Sunday, Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said the island had been hit around 550 times in previous months but continued to operate.
Iran has also imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, creating an issue for US President Donald Trump by pushing up fuel prices globally ahead of midterm elections for his Republican Party in November.
On Saturday, US Central Command said it struck three Iranian vessels, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, after Iran’s IRGC launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, which oversees the US military in the Middle East.
The IRGC responded by threatening intensified strikes against US military vessels in the region, and said later it targeted the three tankers as well as three US-linked vessels in other areas.
“Do not be deceived by the ‘terrorist’ US military and refrain from any suspicious movement aimed at passing through unauthorized waterways,” the IRGC Navy said in a statement carried on Iranian state TV. “Otherwise, you will be targeted.”
Tasnim, the semi-official Iranian news agency, had reported that four US missiles hit a tanker in the area of Kharg’s anchorage. Tasnim quoted local sources as saying there were no casualties and the tanker’s crew was being evacuated.
No American personnel were harmed, Central Command said.
On Sunday, Tasnim reported that the IRGC had shot down a US surveillance balloon over Erbil in northern Iraq, describing it as part of a broader effort to eliminate US aerial surveillance and early-warning systems in the region.
