Iran Vows Decisive Response to US Strikes in Regional Calls
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned the US would face 'decisive' retaliation if American forces carried out fresh strikes, relaying the threat in separate phone calls with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, telling the Saudi counterpart any US or Israeli attack — or regional participation in one — would draw a 'proportionate response' from Tehran.
- Trump said Friday at Camp David he was 'losing faith' in negotiations and threatened further strikes, saying the US would be 'hitting them' if necessary, while still maintaining that envoys Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio could secure a deal and accusing Tehran of repeatedly breaking commitments.
- Nournews, a media outlet affiliated with Iran's top security body, warned that any US attack on Iran's energy infrastructure would trigger Iranian strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, gas fields in Qatar, and Israeli energy sites, claiming 'all will be burned to ashes.'
- Kuwait's army intercepted and destroyed Iranian drones targeting several vital facilities, with falling shrapnel damaging a government facility in northern Kuwait and civilian property on Bubiyan Island, though no casualties were reported.
- Brent crude futures climbed 24% in July as Strait of Hormuz security concerns discouraged commercial shipping through one of the world's busiest oil transit routes, and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen threatened shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — another key global energy chokepoint.
- UK Maritime Trade Operations reported two maritime incidents off Oman's coast on Saturday — one tanker struck by an unidentified projectile that damaged its engine room, and a second vessel that reported a nearby explosion without sustaining damage.
Why it matters: Iran has already named Saudi, UAE, Qatari, and Israeli energy sites as retaliation targets — and with Brent crude already up 24% in July on Hormuz shipping fears, the market is pricing in that regional-spillover scenario before any US strike has actually occurred.
