Iran touts military response as US maintains blockade, hits tankers

Tehran, Iran – The United States continues to rely on a mix of military force and economic sanctions against Iran.

Key points

• "There's probably only about 30 million barrels of Iranian crude oil left that China hasn't bought, " Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent informed Fox News on Sunday.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the US attacks on Iranian ships illegal and a "war crime" that runs counter to the United Nations Charter.
• Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) afterwards aired video of its own, showing explosives-laden projectiles crashing into multiple ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
• It remarked the current deficit is now 7.2mbpd, down from 12.4mbpd in May.
• US and Iranian authorities provide different readings of what is transpiring after months of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade imposed since mid-July.

In practice, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) published video on Saturday showing three Iranian crude oil tankers being hit – one off Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub, another near Jask and a third in the Gulf of Oman. While a third sank after extensive bombing, CENTCOM remarked, two were "permanently disabled".

"Aggressor US must know that it has no way but to leave the region and stop its malignance, " the IRGC remarked in an official note on Sunday. It continued that a US-built sea drone was hit while trying to enter Iranian waters in the vital waterway, through which one fifth of the world's oil and gas passes in peacetime.

For context, the IRGC additionally stated on Sunday it had fired a number of ballistic missiles towards a US aircraft carrier and another warship that are part of the network of vessels imposing the months-long naval blockade of Iran's southern ports. Although there was no immediate evidence of a successful hit and CENTCOM stated the attacks were "evaded", both vessels sustained some damage and fled, remarked the IRGC.

In practice, the IRGC remarked it considered the acknowledgement by the US that missiles were rolled out towards its warships as "live evidence of the enemy's strategic defeat and proof" of the force's "offensive capabilities".

Speaking during a private session of parliament members on Sunday, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated Tehran has inflicted "significant blows" to US bases throughout the region to the "frustration" of leaders in Washington.

"The Americans have surely understood that the era of proportionate responses has come to an end and our recent strikes against aggressor bases was only a start, " remarked Ghalibaf, who is additionally Iran's chief negotiator with the US.

Any further attacks against Iranian interests will be met with "faster, heavier and more painful" strikes from Iran, he cautioned.

Notably, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the US attacks on Iranian ships illegal and a "war crime" that runs counter to the United Nations Charter. Who is the blockade hurting?

In practice, the administration of President Donald Trump notes more vessels have transited the strategically notable waterway over recent weeks under US guidance, despite threats and attacks from Iran, with traffic allegedly nearing pre-war levels on some days. That account is countered by Iranian authorities. It say the strait remains closed.

For context, the US military remarked concerning 90 commercial vessels have been redirected as part of the blockade, with a number of more disabled or boarded.

Crude oil exports from the Middle East during August were down 39 percent since the January and February baseline of 18.5 million barrels per day (mbpd), according to TankerTrackers. It remarked the current deficit is now 7.2mbpd, down from 12.4mbpd in May.

"Although most may recover in the coming months, Iran's exports of 1.68mbpd (baseline number) may likely remain at zero for the foreseeable future; depending on any agreement, " the maritime intelligence firm posted online on Sunday.

According to Iranian authorities have, they have been unable to obtain crude oil past the US warships imposing the blockade.

But they pointed out it does not equal a total halt to exports, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying late last month that up to 90 million barrels of oil were exported during the brief period that the memorandum of understanding signed with the US in June was in effect.

Some of the oil is kept in floating storage outside the blockade, allowing Iran to gradually sell it at a discount to its main oil customer, China, despite US sanctions.

Washington is counting on those supplies running out in the foreseeable future.

"There's probably only about 30 million barrels of Iranian crude oil left that China hasn't bought, " Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent informed Fox News on Sunday. "So that will run out soon and there will be no problem with China buying because they have no product."

Bessent again hailed the "one-two punch" of the blockade and sanctions as part of what the Trump administration has branded Operation Economic Outcast, aimed at reducing Iran's trade with neighbours and further isolating 90 million Iranians.

Iranian authorities have not remarked how much longer they expect to be able to sell oil against the backdrop of the US onslaught, nor have they elaborated on whether they are exploring potential alternative routes.

According to But experts have, while overland and rail routes can move limited refined products, fuel oil and liquefied petroleum gas towards Afghanistan, Iraq, Central Asia and beyond, they cannot offer a viable and scalable replacement for the volume transported by highly sizeable crude carriers through the Strait of Hormuz.

As the country deals with one of the world's highest inflation rates, unemployment, energy imbalance and a host of other deep-seated problems, iran's Economy Ministry on Sunday established an "economic war headquarters" to counter the pressure.

But IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi suggested that the US was taking a number of times more economic damage from the war and blockade than Iran.

"If the US wants to deal one dollar in economic damage to Iran, it may deal several dollars' worth of costs and damages to itself, " he remarked, pointing to lowered US strategic energy reserves and declined aluminium exports from the region as examples.

Taken together, the developments around iran touts military response as US maintains blockade, hits tankers point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.