Iran’s top negotiator threatens ‘faster, more intense’ response to US attacks

Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned on Sunday that the country would respond more swiftly and forcefully to any US attacks, following a recent exchange of fire. Ghalibaf stated that the era of proportional responses has ended, and any aggression against Iran's interests and security would trigger a harsher retaliation.

The attacks on Saturday involved the Revolutionary Guards claiming to target a US naval drone, three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, US vessels in other locations, as well as a US aircraft carrier and destroyer. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported disabling two Iranian oil tankers off Iran's Kharg island and completely destroying an unladen Iranian crude oil tanker in the Sea of Oman, while asserting that their forces had successfully evaded Iran's attacks.

Ghalibaf urged authorities to better manage Iranian imports to counter what he described as a US campaign aimed at disrupting the country's supply and energy systems. The Revolutionary Guards spokesman, Hossein Mohebi, said Tehran was attempting to inflict economic damage on the US during the war, adding that for every dollar of economic damage inflicted on Iran, America would suffer tens of dollars of damage in return.