Iran's parliament speaker has warned of strikes on U.S. energy companies near the Strait of Hormuz, days after U.S. forces disabled three Iranian oil tankers. The exchange follows a U.S. threat to destroy Iranian vessels, and shipping through the strait has dropped to its lowest level since May.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned Monday that Tehran could strike U.S. energy companies operating in the region, according to Al Jazeera. Ghalibaf said, according to Al Jazeera: "Strike our assets, and you get struck. We've already proven it."
That warning followed U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's threat to destroy Iranian oil vessels if Iran targeted American ships. Iranian authorities have separately signaled plans to declare a restricted zone near the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days.
Tankers struck over the weekend
This exchange came after U.S. forces struck and disabled three Iranian oil tankers over the weekend, a move Washington described as retaliation for an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ballistic missile attack that targeted two U.S. Navy warships in the region. Iran's conflict with the U.S. is now six months old.
Strait traffic falls to lowest since May
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has ebbed to its lowest level since May. Just two vessels transited the waterway on Saturday, followed by six on Sunday, and the 10-day moving average slipped to 10. Before the Iran war began in late February, roughly 125 large commodity vessels traveled through the strait every day — around a fifth of all global tanker traffic.
Analysts see a stalemate, not a resolution
The effective closure of the strait has roiled global markets, with traders weighing the possibility of an oil price shock feeding inflation and pushing interest rates higher. Analysts at Vital Knowledge said the United States appears either incapable or unwilling to end the fighting, while Tehran is digging in.
Yet the same analysts said Washington seems to be gaining the upper hand: an American naval blockade of Iranian ports and tougher sanctions are curbing Tehran's oil exports and access to foreign currency, Reuters reported, citing Iranian insiders and regional sources. Whether that pressure pushes Iran back to the negotiating table remains unclear — Vital Knowledge warned the squeeze could instead prove a Pyrrhic victory if Tehran's economic desperation drives it to escalate the conflict further.
Source: Investing.com
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