DUBAI, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Iran said it would intensify its efforts to address the problems caused by United States sanctions that are gravely harming its economy, while a senior Iranian official warned of a “painful response” should the country suffer new attacks.
Six months after the first US and Israeli attacks on Iran, the war appears to be at an impasse. A preliminary ceasefire agreement signed in June collapsed and little progress has been made in diplomatic efforts to resume the peace process.
After a lull in military actions through much of August, retaliatory attacks resumed, with the U.S. Central Command saying it struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, in response to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ launch of ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy ships.
Following the attacks, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on Sunday that the U.S. should understand, “before it’s too late,” that the rules of the game in the war against Iran have changed.
“From now on, any attack on Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, more forceful, and more painful response,” he said in a speech published on his Telegram channel.
Tehran demonstrated that it still retains the ability to strike U.S. interests in neighboring countries and to disrupt oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supply passed before the conflict.
SANCTIONS AND BLOCKADE PRESSURE THE ECONOMY
However, the U.S. campaign to choke Iran’s economy is becoming increasingly difficult to bear, according to three senior Iranian sources.
In his speech on Sunday, Qalibaf added that, beyond the military front, Iran’s main battle now was over production and the means of subsistence of the population.
He cited sharp currency fluctuations, inflation, unemployment and market management as the main challenges, adding that Iranians could tolerate difficulties, but not mismanagement or inertia. According to him, Iranians expect the government to act swiftly.
The Iranian Economy Minister, Ali Madani-zadeh, said Tehran plans to respond to the U.S. economic pressure with reforms. He rejected the idea that sanctions would push the country off its course, state media reported on Sunday.
“They talk of economic pressure and isolation, of breaking financial ties, and they think that, by pressuring the economy of a country, they can change the decisions of its people,” Madani-zadeh said.
“I must make one thing clear: the responsibility for reforming Iran’s economy lies with its government and its people, not the U.S. Treasury.”
At the same time, Deputy Economy Minister Morteza Zamanian said on Sunday that the ministry’s “Economic War Command Center” was redoubling its efforts to resolve the problems caused by the war, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
KHARG ISLAND HIT 550 TIMES, IRAN SAYS
Iran is the third-largest producer in OPEC and exported 90% of its crude oil through the Kharg Island export hub before the war. Flows were interrupted since the U.S. oil export embargo on Iran began in mid-April.
On Aug. 31, Trump posted a one-line message on social media accompanied by an AI-generated video showing Kharg Island being “reduced to pieces.” Iranian authorities promised a forceful response if Kharg is attacked.
In an interview broadcast on state television on Sunday, Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said the island had been hit about 550 times in the preceding months but remained in operation.
Iran also imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, creating a problem for U.S. President Donald Trump by driving up global fuel prices ahead of the November midterm elections.
On Saturday, the U.S. Central Command said it had struck three vessels, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy ships.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: if you fire on two of our ships, we will impose an even greater economic cost — by destroying three of yours,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the armed forces in the Middle East.
The IRGC responded by threatening to intensify attacks on U.S. military ships in the region and later said it had attacked the three oil tankers, as well as three vessels linked to the U.S. in other areas.
“Do not be fooled by the U.S. terrorist armed forces and avoid any suspicious movement aimed at passing through unauthorized waterways,” the IRGC Navy said in a statement carried by Iranian state television. “Otherwise, you will be targets.”
Tasnim, the semi-official Iranian news agency, reported that four U.S. missiles struck a tanker in the Kharg anchorage area. Tasnim cited local sources saying there were no casualties and that the tanker crew was being evacuated.
No U.S. military personnel were wounded, CENTCOM said.
On Sunday, Tasnim reported that the IRGC had shot down a U.S. surveillance balloon over Erbil, in northern Iraq, describing the move as part of a broader effort to eliminate U.S. aerial surveillance and early-warning systems in the region.
(Dubai newsroom; text by Sharon Singleton)
