Tanker strikes in Hormuz escalate war

TEHRAN/DUBAI:

Iran warned on Sunday that any further US attacks would draw a faster, heavier and more painful response as Washington struck three Iranian oil tankers following missile attacks on two American naval vessels, deepening tensions in the six-month war.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the United States must understand that the rules of the game had changed, warning that any attack against Iran's interests and security would face a stronger response.

"The Americans must have understood that the era of proportionate responses has come to an end," Ghalibaf said in a speech carried by state media. "Any aggression against Iran's interests and security will receive a faster, more intense and more painful response."

The latest escalation followed what US Central Command described as unsuccessful Iranian ballistic missile attacks on two American warships, an aircraft carrier and a destroyer, during renewed clashes between the two sides.

CENTCOM said it subsequently struck three oil tankers linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, disabling two crude oil carriers and destroying another in the Gulf of Oman after its crew was ordered to abandon ship.

The US military said the vessels formed part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network funding the IRGC and its regional proxies. CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said Washington would impose an even higher economic cost following attacks on its ships.

Iran condemned the US strikes as illegal and aggressive actions, while its Revolutionary Guard said naval forces had targeted three oil tankers on an unauthorised route through the Strait of Hormuz and three US-affiliated vessels elsewhere.

The Guards also said early Sunday that they had attacked a US naval drone attempting to enter the strategic waterway, while Iran's Khatam-al Anbiya central military command warned that further American attacks would trigger more severe retaliation.

The confrontation comes as a fragile ceasefire reached in June has unravelled, with little progress in diplomatic efforts to revive the peace process. After a pause in military action for much of August, tit-for-tat strikes have resumed.

Iran has maintained its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of global oil supplies flowed before the conflict, while Washington continues a counter-blockade of Iranian ports and seeks to restrict Tehran's oil exports.

The US campaign to pressure Iran economically has also intensified, with Washington imposing sanctions on entities linked to Tehran as it seeks to isolate the Iranian economy and force the government to change course.

Ghalibaf said Iran's main battle, alongside the military front, was now over production and people's livelihoods, citing currency fluctuations, inflation, unemployment and market management among the country's major economic challenges.

Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said Tehran would respond to US economic pressure through reforms, rejecting the idea that sanctions would force the country to change its decisions. Iran's Economy Ministry has also established an "Economic War Headquarters" to address problems created by the war.

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said the country's Kharg Island export hub had been hit around 550 times in previous months but continued to operate. Iran had exported 90% of its crude through Kharg before the war.

US Central Command said on Sunday that it had redirected 92 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two since the blockade began, while US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said oil was continuing to move through the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflict has also become increasingly contentious inside the United States as fuel prices rise ahead of November's midterm elections. Vice President JD Vance has said he would not call the confrontation a war, while President Donald Trump described it as "small potatoes" for Washington.

Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei, meanwhile, warned that Tehran had adopted a "new strategy" against Washington that, he said, would "shatter your foundations". Vance has insisted Washington will not reopen talks with Tehran until Iran ends attacks on commercial shipping in the waterway.

Separately, Iran's army chief, Major General Ali Abdollahi, said that Tehran would not yield to pressure from the United States, and that Washington's turn to "economic, psychological and cognitive warfare" would fail just as its "military aggression" had, according to Press TV.