Iran touts military response as US maintains blockade, hits tankers

Tehran says the time for proportionate retaliation is over after a US strike on Iranian tankers inside the blockade line.

Screengrab from CENTCOM handout video is said to show strike on Iran-linked oil tanker Kylo [CENTCOMscreengrab/AFP]

Tehran, Iran – The United States continues to rely on a mix of military force and economic sanctions against Iran, which has so far only prompted authorities in Tehran to consider more forceful responses.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) released 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. Two were “permanently disabled”, while a third sank after extensive bombing, CENTCOM said.

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later aired video of its own, showing explosives-laden projectiles crashing into multiple ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Aggressor US must know that it has no way but to leave the region and stop its malignance,” the IRGC said in a statement on Sunday. It added 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.

The US released video on Saturday said to show strikes on three Iranian tankers linked to the IRGC [AFP]

The IRGC also said on Sunday it had fired several 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. Both vessels sustained some damage and fled, said the IRGC, although there was no immediate evidence of a successful hit and CENTCOM said the attacks were “evaded”.

The IRGC said it considered the acknowledgement by the US that missiles were launched towards its warships as “live evidence of the enemy’s strategic defeat and proof” of the force’s “offensive capabilities”.

Speaking during a private meeting of parliament members on Sunday, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran has inflicted “significant blows” to US bases across 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,” said Ghalibaf, who is also 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 warned.

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?

US and Iranian officials provide different readings of what is transpiring after months of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade imposed since mid-July.

The administration of President Donald Trump says more vessels have transited the strategically important 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, which say the strait remains closed.

The US military said about 90 commercial vessels have been redirected as part of the blockade, with several 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 said 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 company posted online on Sunday.

Iranian authorities have confirmed that they have been unable to get 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 told 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 said how much longer they expect to be able to sell oil amid the US onslaught, nor have they elaborated on whether they are exploring potential alternative routes.

But experts have said that 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 very large crude carriers through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Economy Ministry on Sunday established an “economic war headquarters” to counter the pressure , as the country deals with one of the world’s highest inflation rates, unemployment, energy imbalance and a host of other deep-seated issues.

But IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi suggested that the US was taking several 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 said, pointing to lowered US strategic energy reserves and decreased aluminium exports from the region as examples.

德黑兰方面表示，在美国袭击封锁线内的伊朗油轮后，采取对等报复的时机已经结束。

据称，美国中央司令部发布的视频截图显示，对与伊朗有关联的油轮“凯洛号”发动了袭击。[CENTCOMscreengrab/AFP]

伊朗德黑兰——美国继续对伊朗采取军事力量和经济制裁相结合的策略，但迄今为止，这反而促使德黑兰当局考虑采取更强硬的回应。

美国中央司令部（CENTCOM）周六公布了一段视频，显示三艘伊朗原油油轮遭到袭击——一艘在伊朗主要石油出口枢纽哈尔格岛附近海域，一艘在贾斯克附近海域，还有一艘在阿曼湾。中央司令部称，其中两艘油轮“永久丧失动力”，第三艘在遭到猛烈轰炸后沉没。

伊朗总统佩泽什基安呼吁团结，美国加大经济压力（共3条，此为第1条）

美国称袭击了被指控帮助“地区代理人”的伊朗油轮（共3份名单中的第2份）

3/3 美国、伊朗卷入油轮战争：这场持续数月的冲突将走向何方？

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队（IRGC）随后播放了自己的视频，显示装满炸药的炮弹在霍尔木兹海峡撞击多艘船只。

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队周日发表声明称：“侵略者美国必须明白，它别无选择，只能离开该地区，停止其恶意行径。”声明还补充说，一架美国制造的海上无人潜航器在试图进入伊朗水域时遭到击落。该潜航器位于一条至关重要的航道上，和平时期全球五分之一的石油和天然气都要经过这条航道。

美国周六发布了一段视频，据称显示袭击了三艘与伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队有关的伊朗油轮。[法新社]

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队周日还表示，他们向一艘美国航空母舰和另一艘军舰发射了数枚弹道导弹。这两艘军舰隶属于对伊朗南部港口实施长达数月海上封锁的舰船网络。革命卫队称，两艘军舰均遭受一定程度的损坏并逃离现场，但目前尚无证据表明导弹击中目标，美国中央司令部也表示袭击已被“规避”。

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队表示，美国承认向其军舰发射导弹，是“敌人战略失败的活生生的证据，也是”该部队“进攻能力”的证明。

议长穆罕默德·巴格尔·加利巴夫周日在一次议员私人会议上发表讲话时表示，德黑兰对美国在该地区的各个基地造成了“重大打击”，令华盛顿的领导人感到“沮丧”。

“美国人肯定已经明白，对等回应的时代已经结束，我们最近对侵略者基地的打击仅仅是一个开始，”加利巴夫说道，他同时也是伊朗与美国之间的首席谈判代表。

他警告说，任何进一步攻击伊朗利益的行为都将遭到伊朗“更快、更猛烈、更痛苦”的反击。

外交部称美国袭击伊朗船只的行为是非法的，是违反《联合国宪章》的“战争罪行”。

封锁究竟伤害了谁？

美国和伊朗官员对霍尔木兹海峡数月来的混乱局面以及自 7 月中旬以来实施的海上封锁所造成的局势给出了不同的解读。

美国总统特朗普政府表示，尽管伊朗发出威胁并发动袭击，但在最近几周，在美国的指导下，通过这条具有重要战略意义的水道的船只数量有所增加，据称某些日子的交通量已接近战前水平。但伊朗当局否认了这一说法，称该海峡仍然关闭。

美国军方表示，作为封锁行动的一部分，约有 90 艘商船被迫改道，另有几艘商船被瘫痪或遭到登船检查。

据TankerTrackers的数据显示，8月份中东原油出口量较1月和2月的基准水平1850万桶/日下降了39%。该公司表示，目前的缺口为720万桶/日，低于5月份的1240万桶/日。

这家海事情报公司周日在网上发帖称：“尽管大部分出口量可能在未来几个月内恢复，但伊朗168万桶/日（基准数字）的出口量在可预见的未来可能仍将为零；这取决于任何协议。”

伊朗当局已证实，他们一直无法突破美国军舰的封锁，将原油运往伊朗。

但他们指出，这并不意味着出口完全停止。马苏德·佩泽什基安总统上月底表示，在6月份与美国签署的谅解备忘录生效的短暂期间，石油出口量高达9000万桶。

部分石油储存在封锁线外的浮式储油罐中，这使得伊朗能够逐步以折扣价将其出售给其主要石油客户中国，尽管受到美国制裁。

华盛顿指望这些物资在不久的将来耗尽。

美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特周日告诉福克斯新闻：“中国可能只剩下大约3000万桶伊朗原油没买。所以这些原油很快就会用完，中国购买石油不会有问题，因为他们已经没有产品了。”

贝森特再次称赞封锁和制裁的“组合拳”，称这是特朗普政府所谓的“经济排斥行动”的一部分，旨在减少伊朗与邻国的贸易，并进一步孤立9000万伊朗人。

伊朗当局尚未说明在美国的猛烈攻势下，他们预计还能出售石油多久，也没有详细说明他们是否正在探索可能的替代路线。

但专家表示，虽然陆路和铁路路线可以将有限的成品油、燃料油和液化石油气运往阿富汗、伊拉克、中亚及更远的地方，但它们无法替代通过霍尔木兹海峡运输的大型原油运输船的运输量。

伊朗经济部周日设立了一个“经济战总部”，以应对压力。该国正面临世界上最高的通货膨胀率之一、失业率、能源失衡以及其他一系列根深蒂固的问题。

但伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队发言人侯赛因·莫赫比表示，美国因战争和封锁遭受的经济损失是伊朗的数倍。

“如果美国想对伊朗造成一美元的经济损失，它自己可能会付出数美元的代价和损失，”他说道，并指出美国战略能源储备下降和该地区铝出口减少就是例证。