Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has threatened a "faster, heavier, and more painful response" against the US, warning that Washington must recognise "before it is too late" that the "rules of the game have changed". The comments mark a sharp escalation nearly a week into renewed fighting between the two countries, following a 60-day ceasefire that expired last month, and come amid rising global oil and diesel prices that are creating political pressure on President Donald Trump ahead of November's US midterm elections.

The latest exchange followed US strikes on Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, in retaliation for Iran attacking American warships, while Iranian state media separately claimed its navy had struck a US remote-controlled vessel near the Strait of Hormuz — a claim US Central Command dismissed as "a total lie". Fighting has spread across the region this week, hitting targets in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, while US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran that any attack on US ships would see its oil tankers "destroyed and sunk". The Strait of Hormuz, vital to global energy supplies, has remained effectively closed since the six-month conflict began in February, though US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said around nine million barrels of oil a day are still passing through, roughly two-thirds of pre-conflict levels, with US diesel prices up from $3.71 to $5.85 a gallon over the past year.