Iran Threatens to Target U.S. Energy Assets in Gulf If U.S. Strikes Again

Responding to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s warning that “if Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said: “It’s simple: the oil and gas production chain here is sprawling, accessible, and exposed. American oil and gas companies across these waters and facilities share that exposure.”“Strike our assets and you get struck,” he added. “We’ve already proven it.”Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary, told Iranian state TV on Sunday that Tehran has concluded “new strategies must be adopted in the war, in negotiations, and in confronting the blockade.” Among the measures planned is a new “exclusion zone” in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The zone would begin at the blockade line, extend through the Strait of Hormuz, and continue into the Persian Gulf, Rezaei said. Vessels entering the zone to transit the Strait would be placed on an Iranian sanctions list.The latest flare-up began Saturday, when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked U.S. warships in the region. The U.S. responded by striking three Iranian oil tankers, including one near Kharg Is...