Iran's response to US attacks will be 'more painful', warns parliament speaker

Qalibar's comments, published on social media channel Telegram, came just a day after the US struck several Iranian tankers in the Gulf, with the speaker adding that America should understand that the rules of the game have changed "before it is too late".

"From now on, any attack against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, heavier and more painful response,” he said.

Iran has promised it will step up efforts to tackle problems created by the US sanctions that are continuing to cripple its economy, as the conflict hits the six-month mark.

Tehran has shown it still retains the capability to attack American interests in the region, and to shut down oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil supplies flowed prior to the conflict.

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Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and exported 90% of their crude via the Kharg Island export hub before the war - although flows have been disrupted since a US blockade of Iranian oil exports began in mid-April.

On August 31, Trump issued a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video depicting Kharg Island being "blown to smithereens".

Iranian authorities vowed a strong retaliation should Kharg be attacked.

In an interview on state TV on Sunday, Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said the island had been hit around 550 times in previous months but continued to operate.

In response to the conflict, Tehran has also imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz which has pushed up fuel prices globally, causing issues for Trump ahead of the midterm elections in November.

There are also problems emerging inside Iran, as the impact of the conflict on the Iranian economy is understood to be increasingly difficult to withstand, according to Iranian sources.

Iran's Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said that Tehran planned to respond to US economic pressure with reforms, and rejected the idea that sanctions would cause it to change course.

"They think that by pressuring the economy of a country they can change the decisions of its people," he said.

"I have to clarify one point: the responsibility of reforming Iran’s economy is with its government and people, not with the U.S. Treasury."

Despite the ongoing threats, the war appears to be at somewhat of a stalemate.

A preliminary ceasefire accord reached in June has since unravelled, and little progress is being made in diplomatic efforts to get the peace process back on track.

Although somewhat successful pause in military action was achieved throughout much of July, tit-for-tat strikes have since resumed between the two countries, with US Central Command saying it hit three Iranian tankers on Saturday - including one off the coast of Kharg Island.

It is understood the attack was in response to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launching ballistic missiles at two American Navy ships.

“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours," said Admiral Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the U.S. military in the Middle East.

The IRGC responded by threatening intensified strikes against U.S. military vessels in the region, and said later it targeted the three tankers as well as three U.S.-linked vessels in other areas.

"Do not be deceived by the 'terrorist' U.S. military and refrain from any suspicious movement aimed at passing through unauthorized waterways," the IRGC Navy said in a statement carried on Iranian state TV.

"Otherwise, you will be targeted."