Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei. Photo: X
Iran has warned that it will respond to expanded US sanctions, including measures against countries it believes are cooperating with Washington, as Tehran faces mounting economic pressure and tensions remain high over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, speaking at a press conference on Monday, August 24, according to Tasnim News Agency, warned that any escalation would have consequences.
“Any escalation of this situation will undoubtedly bring about consequences. Our hands are not tied,” Baghaei said.
He said Iran would not allow the war to end on what he described as the aggressor’s terms, insisting that Tehran had neither started nor sought the conflict.
“We did not start this war, nor did we seek it; rather, we used every possible means to prevent it,” he said.
Baghaei described the US naval blockade as an act of aggression and called Washington’s economic campaign “economic terrorism”. He said Tehran would use its relationships with allies to counter US sanctions and warned that countries should not participate in what he called the US economic war against Iran.
He also said Iran considered itself entitled to target the origin or source of any aggressive action against it, in response to a question about US aerial-refuelling aircraft leaving Bulgarian territory.
Baghaei said Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi would visit Tehran on Tuesday, August 25, for talks involving bilateral relations, security and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
He stressed that the Omani minister’s visit was unrelated to the visit of Pakistan’s army chief to Tehran, saying the two visits were taking place at roughly the same time.
Baghaei described Iran-Pakistan relations as being at one of their strongest stages and said both sides wanted to expand cooperation across different areas.
Iran has maintained that reopening the Strait of Hormuz requires the lifting of the US naval blockade, the withdrawal of American forces from the region and reparations for damage sustained during the war. Tehran has also held separate talks with Oman on managing navigation through the waterway.
Asked about Western reports that Iran was adopting a poker-like strategy and taking greater risks, Baghaei said Tehran had long been a “chess” player and had also become a “poker” player, describing its current approach as a combination of both.
Baghaei rejected reports about the number of ships and quantities of oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, calling them inaccurate and part of a psychological warfare campaign.
He also said Chile’s decision to close its embassy in Tehran was linked to reducing financial costs and did not mean the two countries were cutting diplomatic ties.
Fewer than 20 commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, according to Kpler shipping data cited by Reuters.
Four vessels crossed the strait by 02:28 GMT on Sunday, August 23, following 13 crossings on Saturday. The figures could be revised because some ships switched off their transponders while navigating the waterway.
The weekend total compared with 16 crossings on Friday, August 21.
Two empty very large crude carriers entered the Gulf with their tracking systems switched off. One was bound for Iraq and the other for Bahrain. A VLCC carrying about 2 million barrels of Emirati crude left the strait on Thursday, August 20.
Kpler also recorded eight very large gas carriers crossing the waterway over the three-day period. Six entered the Gulf empty, while two carrying liquefied petroleum gas loaded in Iran exited the Gulf.
UK Maritime Trade Operations said traffic remained subdued during the week ending August 21, with vessels abandoning planned crossings or diverting through the northern part of the strait following attacks.
According to Automatic Identification System data cited by UKMTO, 89 vessels exited the strait while 103 entered during the seven-day period.
Qassem Ravanbakhsh, deputy chairman of Iran’s parliamentary internal affairs committee, said Washington should recognise that Iran was not isolated internationally.
Speaking to ISNA, he pointed to China and Russia, saying their active presence alongside Tehran would contribute to the failure of the US sanctions strategy.
Ravanbakhsh described the US naval blockade as an inhumane act and urged Iran to take a firm position in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb.
He suggested that preventing oil shipments through the two waterways could increase pressure on the US economy.
Ravanbakhsh also called for a proposal concerning Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz to be submitted to parliament, saying the strategic waterway should be managed in accordance with Iranian laws and decisions.
Iranian Army chief Amir Hatami said the armed forces were monitoring what he called the enemy’s short-, medium- and long-term objectives and were prepared for any scenario.
“We will fight for ten or twenty generations, and we will not allow the enemy to change the map of the country,” Hatami said.
He accused Iran’s adversaries of continuing to plan new threats after failing to achieve their objectives and said Iran would not become a testing ground for what he described as foreign conspiracies and adventures.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that actions by Iran’s enemies had created difficulties for the government and prevented it from fully addressing citizens’ problems.
Speaking at a ceremony marking Government Week, he accused the United States and Israel of exploiting divisions inside Iran to create discord and take advantage of the country’s internal situation.
Pezeshkian called for unity and cooperation to address citizens’ problems and improve conditions.
His remarks came as Iran’s rial fell to a record low amid expectations of further US sanctions.
US President Donald Trump on Monday reposted a Newsmax report on Truth Social concerning comments by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
Qalibaf, speaking at a meeting with Iranian and Iraqi economists in Baghdad, warned that economic difficulties could threaten Iran’s security.
He described the economy and security as two interdependent pillars, arguing that investment requires security while security depends on economic growth, domestic production and adequate income.
“No matter how strong our military capabilities are, if we are hungry we will not be able to survive,” Qalibaf said.
Iran has endured years of sanctions by developing alternative trading relationships and strengthening domestic industries. However, further restrictions on exports could add to pressure on prices and the wider economy.
Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Brigadier General Hossein Mohebi said Iran’s ability to monitor the Strait of Hormuz was not dependent solely on satellites or known radar installations.
He said the Guard had other means of tracking maritime activity that may not yet be known to its adversaries.
Mohebi said the destruction of several known Iranian radar systems would not eliminate the country’s ability to monitor the waterway. He pointed to Iran’s ability to track and target ships at sensitive locations and disable their engine rooms.
Vice President Mostafa Hashemi Taba cautioned against proposals to carry out attacks near the United States or target oil facilities in neighbouring countries.
He said neighbouring states and other affected parties would inevitably react to such actions, potentially creating serious consequences for Iran.
Hashemi Taba warned that such proposals could damage national interests if their objective was not genuinely to protect the country.
Iraq has proposed establishing a unified security coordination council involving Iran and Saudi Arabia, according to Qasim al-Araji, security adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
Al-Araji said Baghdad had submitted the proposal to Tehran and Riyadh to address what he described as a crisis of confidence between the two countries.
He did not disclose further details, and there was no immediate response from Saudi or Iranian authorities.
In a separate Middle East development, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met over the weekend with a high-level Israeli delegation in Jordan to try to defuse tensions after Israel last week struck an air base in northern Syria, Syrian state news agency SANA reported Monday.
The US-mediated discussions on Sunday focused on restarting negotiations for a future security agreement between the two countries, SANA said.
Israel struck the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province last week, saying that it aimed to stop Turkiye — which has been supporting the new Syrian government’s efforts to rebuild its armed forces after 14 years of civil war — from establishing a presence there.
Syrian officials asserted during the talks the right to develop an army and freely forge alliances with any country, the agency said.
They also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a buffer zone in southern Syria that they have occupied since December 2024 and reiterated Syria’s stance that the Golan Heights — which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — is Syrian territory.
Israeli officials didn’t immediately comment on the meeting as of Monday.
The Palestinian American homeowner whose residence was besieged earlier this month by Israeli settlers said on Monday that he remained unable to move freely in the West Bank village of Qusra. Loui Ridi travelled from Ohio to the Israeli-occupied West Bank to join his relatives defending his home from Israeli settlers a week ago.
Palestinians whose homes have been besieged can only now move about following prior authorisation from the Israeli military, which declared the area a closed zone to restore order in Qusra and converted a nearby home into a makeshift drone base.
Ridi said settlers returned throughout the week to the hill above his house, while he and his relatives had spent hours coordinating movement to purchase essential supplies like food and water.
Since Israeli settlers surrounded Ridi’s home more than two weeks ago, preventing occupants from leaving, Israeli soldiers have encouraged them to leave, but Israel’s police have not announced any arrests.
The siege — and Israel’s response — has sparked condemnation from Israeli rights groups and foreign officials, including US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called the violence terrorism.
Palestinians consider the Israeli-occupied West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians and 560,000 Israeli settlers, the heart of any future state and have condemned Israel’s expansion in the territory. It has seen a dramatic spike in violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians this year.
Inputs from Associated Press.
This post was last modified on August 24, 2026 6:19 pm