Iran threatens 'faster, heavier' response to US attacks — SkimNews
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- Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker, warned Americans that "the rules of the game have changed" and promised "a faster, heavier, and more painful response" to US attacks, per state media.
- Iran retaliated against US targets in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan after a 60-day ceasefire formally expired last month and the US resumed strikes a week ago.
- Iran's Navy claimed to have attacked an American remote-controlled vessel entering the Strait of Hormuz; US Central Command called the state-media report "a total lie."
- Pete Hegseth fired back on social media: "if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers," a day after Washington said it struck Iranian oil tankers in response to Tehran attacking American warships.
- Strait of Hormuz flows have reached about 9 million barrels per day — roughly two-thirds of pre-conflict levels, per Energy Secretary Chris Wright — even as Trump insists the waterway is "open" and the US navy escorts ships through the southern route.
- Trump said this week's renewed fighting would not "last too long," even as US diesel hit $5.85 per gallon on Friday (up from $3.71 a year ago), pressuring his standing ahead of November midterm elections.
Why it matters: Diesel at $5.85 a gallon — nearly $2 higher than a year ago — is the direct price-tag American voters see from a six-month war, and it lands weeks before the November midterms. With Strait of Hormuz flows still at only two-thirds of pre-conflict levels, Iran's leverage over global energy markets remains intact even as both sides escalate.
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