Tehran, Iran – The United States persists in employing a combination of military force and economic sanctions against Iran, prompting Tehran to contemplate more aggressive countermeasures.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) released footage on Saturday depicting three Iranian crude oil tankers being struck—one near Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export hub, another close to Jask, and a third in the Gulf of Oman. According to CENTCOM, two were “permanently disabled,” while a third sank following intensive bombing.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) subsequently released footage of its own, depicting explosives-laden projectiles impacting multiple vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The aggressive United States must recognize that it has no choice but to leave the region and cease its malignance,” the IRGC stated in a Sunday declaration. The statement added that a US-manufactured maritime drone was struck while attempting to enter Iranian waters within this vital waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas transit during peacetime.
On Sunday, the IRGC also claimed to have fired multiple ballistic missiles at a US aircraft carrier and another warship participating in the months-long naval blockade of Iran’s southern ports. The IRGC stated that both vessels sustained damage and retreated, though there was no immediate evidence of a successful strike, and CENTCOM reported that the attacks were “evaded.”
The IRGC characterized the US acknowledgment that missiles were launched toward its warships as “live evidence of the enemy’s strategic defeat and proof” of the force’s “offensive capabilities.”
During a private parliamentary meeting on Sunday, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf asserted that Tehran has inflicted “significant blows” on US bases across the region, much to the “frustration” of leaders in Washington.
“The Americans have undoubtedly understood that the era of proportionate responses has concluded, and our recent strikes against aggressor bases were merely the beginning,” said Ghalibaf, who also serves as Iran’s chief negotiator with the US.
He warned that any further attacks against Iranian interests would be met with “faster, heavier, and more painful” strikes from Iran.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the US attacks on Iranian vessels as illegal and a “war crime” violating the United Nations Charter.
The Impact of the Blockade
US and Iranian officials offer differing interpretations of the ongoing situation following months of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade imposed since mid-July. The administration of President Donald Trump asserts that more vessels have transited the strategically vital waterway in recent weeks under US guidance, despite Iranian threats and attacks, with traffic allegedly approaching pre-war levels on certain days. This account is contradicted by Iranian authorities, who maintain that the strait remains closed.
The US military stated that approximately 90 commercial vessels have been redirected as part of the blockade, with several others disabled or boarded.
According to TankerTrackers, crude oil exports from the Middle East in August decreased by 39 percent compared to the January and February baseline of 18.5 million barrels per day (mbpd). The company noted that the current deficit stands at 7.2mbpd, down from 12.4mbpd in May.
“Although most may recover in the coming months, Iran’s exports of 1.68mbpd (baseline figure) may likely remain at zero for the foreseeable future, depending on any agreement,” the maritime intelligence company stated in an online post on Sunday.
Iranian authorities have confirmed their inability to transport crude oil past the US warships enforcing the blockade.
However, they pointed out that this does not equate to a total halt to exports, noting that President Masoud Pezeshkian stated last month that up to 90 million barrels of oil were exported during the brief period when the memorandum of understanding signed with the US in June was in effect.
Some of the oil is stored in floating facilities outside the blockade, enabling Iran to gradually sell it at a discounted rate to its primary oil customer, China, despite US sanctions.
Washington is counting on those supplies depleting in the foreseeable future.
“There are likely only about 30 million barrels of Iranian crude oil remaining that China has not purchased,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday. “It will run out soon, and there will be no issue with China buying because they will have no product.”
Bessent again praised the “one-two punch” of the blockade and sanctions, which form part of what the Trump administration has termed Operation Economic Outcast, aimed at reducing Iran’s trade with neighboring nations and further isolating its 90 million citizens.
Iranian authorities have not specified how much longer they expect to sell oil amid the US onslaught, nor have they elaborated on whether they are exploring alternative routes. However, experts have noted that while overland and rail routes can transport limited refined products, fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gas to Afghanistan, Iraq, Central Asia, and beyond, they cannot offer a viable or scalable replacement for the volume transported by very large crude carriers through the Strait of Hormuz.
On Sunday, Iran’s Economy Ministry established an “economic war headquarters” to counter the mounting pressure, as the country grapples with one of the world’s highest inflation rates, unemployment, energy imbalances, and numerous other deep-seated issues.
However, IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi suggested that the US is suffering significantly more economic damage from the war and blockade than Iran.
“If the US wishes to inflict one dollar in economic damage on Iran, it may suffer several dollars’ worth of costs and damages to itself,” he said, pointing to lowered US strategic energy reserves and decreased aluminum exports from the region as examples.
