Iran has issued a fresh warning that oil exports from across the wider region could be disrupted if its own security is not guaranteed, as the country’s Revolutionary Guard separately touted new weaponry it said it was prepared to deploy if tensions with Washington escalate further.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that if Iran is prevented from selling its own oil, no country in the region should expect to sell oil either, a statement that appeared aimed at pressuring Western governments and their regional allies by raising the spectre of wider disruption to global energy supplies. He is reported to have cautioned Washington against miscalculating, insisting that the Iranian public would not be cowed by blockades or economic pressure.
The remarks came alongside separate comments from a Revolutionary Guard spokesman, Hossein Mohebi, who is said to have accused former US President Donald Trump of dishonesty and called for the withdrawal of American forces from the Middle East. Mohebi reportedly said the Guard was continuing to develop and mass produce weaponry for defensive purposes, and suggested that any shift in the nature of the confrontation with the US could see Iran bring new weapons systems into play. He described American military bases in the region as the primary source of insecurity there.
The latest exchange follows months of heightened tension between Tehran and Washington that trace back to Israeli and American strikes on Iranian targets earlier this year, which were followed by Iranian retaliation, including a period in which Iran moved to restrict passage through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important routes for seaborne oil shipments. Iranian officials have maintained that their earlier retaliatory strikes were directed solely at American military assets rather than civilian infrastructure, though the episode left regional relationships strained.
On the nuclear file, Iranian officials also pushed back against suggestions that the country is close to acquiring nuclear weapons capability, dismissing the claims as a long-running mischaracterisation of its programme. The International Atomic Energy Agency has yet to reach agreement with Tehran on the redeployment of inspectors or the resumption of full monitoring at Iranian nuclear sites, leaving a key channel for independent verification still unresolved.