A woman drives past an anti-American billboard in Tehran’s Enherab Square on September 2, 2026.
Atta Kenare | AFP | Getty Images
Iran’s “proportionate response” to the U.S. attack is over, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the country’s parliament speaker and top negotiator, said on Sunday, even as he acknowledged the economic impact of the war.
“If you didn’t understand it before, you should understand before it’s too late that the rules of the game have changed and that from now on, any violation of Iran’s interests and security will be met with a ‘faster, heavier and more painful’ response,” Ghalibaf said in a Telegram post.
But Ghalibaf added that alongside the military conflict, Iran faces severe economic pressure.
“Severe fluctuations in exchange rates, inflation, unemployment and market management are fundamental challenges that are putting significant pressure on people’s lives,” Ghalibaf said.
He also stressed the need to increase reliance on domestic production and leverage technology to “devise short-term and permanent solutions.”
Ghalibaf’s remarks came after the US military attacked three Iranian crude oil carriers. U.S. Central Command announced that it had permanently disabled one crude oil carrier off Kharg Island and one near Jask. Another oil tanker was attacked in the Gulf of Oman.
Centcom said the attack was in retaliation for ballistic missiles fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against two naval warships in the region. Centcom said U.S. aircraft carriers and guided missile destroyers successfully evaded multiple attacks, and no U.S. personnel were harmed.
“Let us make our message clear to the Revolutionary Guards: If you shoot two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic price. That means we will destroy three of your ships,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement Saturday. “We will not hesitate to protect U.S. forces and, if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
Defense Division Pete Hegseth later wrote in a post on X: “Simple: If Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot @USNavy.”
Iran is the third largest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and before the war, 90% of its crude oil was exported via Kharg Island. This flow has been interrupted by the US blockade on Iranian oil exports that began in mid-April.
The conflict between Iran and the US effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the world’s oil supplies, before US and Israeli airstrikes sparked a war on February 28.
US President Donald Trump threatened in June to seize Kharg Island as the US continues its military offensive against Iran. Most recently, on August 31st, he posted an artificial intelligence-generated video of Kharg Island being blown up.
Tightening of sanctions
The attack on the oil tanker came a day after the Treasury Department announced sanctions against a small Turkish investment bank and two of its subsidiaries that the United States accuses of financing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The measures are part of a comprehensive package of sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in late August targeting Iran’s access to digital assets, advanced technology procurement, gold reserves, civil aviation and shipping.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said late last month that the country’s trade had declined significantly.
Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have shrunk by 2.7% in the year that ended in March due to economic disruption caused by widespread protests and escalating hostilities in the region last year, according to the World Bank.
According to the World Bank, inflation rose to 62.2% in February, with food price inflation reaching a historic high of 99%. According to the New York Times, Iranian officials estimate that 1 million jobs have been lost as a result of the war.
