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Iran’s chief negotiator on Sunday threatened a stronger and more painful response to any further US attacks after Tehran and Washington exchanged strikes involving warships and oil tankers in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest exchange came amid a continuing deadlock in the six-month conflict between the two countries, which began with US attacks on Iran last week.
Iran has maintained its restrictions on shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, while Washington has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports and expanded sanctions in an effort to increase economic pressure on Tehran.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has also acted as Tehran’s chief negotiator in efforts to end the conflict, said the country’s approach to responding to attacks had changed.
“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,” he added.
Meanwhile, Iran’s top security official Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran would establish a new “prohibited zone” near the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days.
“This zone will start from the US Navy’s blockade line and include areas of the Persian Gulf. Any ship entering this new zone will be placed on Iran’s sanctions list,” Rezaei told state television.
The threats followed a series of exchanges between Iranian and US forces on Saturday.
US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military operations in the region, said Iran had unsuccessfully fired on two US warships, including an aircraft carrier and a destroyer.
The US responded by striking three oil tankers that CENTCOM said were linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Video released by the US military showed large explosions and flames after projectiles struck the vessels.
CENTCOM said the three tankers were part of a “multibillion-dollar shadow network” used to finance the IRGC and its regional allies.
Iran retaliated shortly afterwards, with the Revolutionary Guards saying their naval forces had targeted three oil tankers travelling through what it described as an unauthorised route in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as three vessels linked to the United States elsewhere.
The Guards warned ships against attempting to pass through the strategic waterway using routes not approved by Tehran.
Early Sunday, the Revolutionary Guards also claimed to have attacked a US naval drone attempting to enter the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins rejected the claim, calling it “a complete lie”.
Following Saturday’s exchange, CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said the United States would impose a higher economic cost if its warships came under attack.
“If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost by taking out three of yours,” Cooper said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the US strikes on the oil tankers, describing them as “illegal and aggressive actions”.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has sought to play down the significance of the six-month conflict, which has become increasingly unpopular in the United States as the midterm elections approach.
US Vice President JD Vance has said he “wouldn’t call it a war”, while President Donald Trump on Friday described the conflict as “small potatoes” for Washington.
Iranian officials have continued to strike a defiant tone. However, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tehran was increasingly under pressure.
Speaking on ABC’s This Week programme on Sunday, Wright said Iran was “doing everything they can to cling on to something”.
“They know their nuclear programme’s coming to an end. Their navy has come to an end. Their air force has come to an end. They’re clinging on to power,” he said.
A fragile ceasefire between the two countries collapsed in July following attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies had previously passed.
Trump has repeatedly threatened in recent weeks to claim sovereignty over the strategic waterway and recently posted a map describing it as “new US territory”.
Vance has maintained that Washington will not resume negotiations with Tehran until Iran stops attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest military exchange has further heightened tensions around one of the world’s most strategically important maritime routes, raising fresh concerns about the risk of a wider escalation in the conflict.
