‘No one will be able to export oil’ if US intensifies blockade, Iran warns

Iran has issued a strong warning that if the United States escalates its naval blockade, no country will be able to export oil from the Persian Gulf. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated that any further intensification of the blockade would provoke a military response from Tehran, emphasizing that regional energy flows are central to the ongoing confrontation with the U.S..

This warning comes amidst a six-month conflict where the U.S. has reimposed a military blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on its oil trade since mid-July, significantly curtailing Iran's crude exports. Despite a Memorandum of Understanding signed in June to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, which included provisions for lifting the U.S. naval blockade and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Iran maintains that it will not fully reopen the strategic waterway until the U.S. upholds its commitments under the agreement.

The current situation has led to a stalemate, with Iran keeping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a minimum while the U.S. continues its counter-blockade of Iranian ports. This has resulted in Iran experiencing weeks without significant crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz, impacting its foreign currency earnings, even as oil revenues reportedly almost met budget projections for the first four months of the Iranian year.