Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, on Thursday threatened to “make the Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders” if the U.S. military targets regime assets on islands there.
“Homeland or death! Any aggression against soil of Iranian islands will shatter all restraint,” tweeted Ghalibaf, adding, “The blood of American soldiers is Trump’s personal responsibility.”
Several Gulf islands—especially Kharg Island, Iran’s main crude export terminal—serve as critical energy hubs, while others host military installations operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The U.S. and Israeli militaries have so far refrained from striking Kharg Island. Analysts say an attack could push oil prices higher, as it could take most of the Islamic Republic’s crude exports offline for some time, even after the fighting ends.
Amid wild fluctuations in oil prices and Iranian strikes on Gulf states’ petroleum sites, President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Tehran on Tuesday.
“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America twenty times harder than they have been hit thus far,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“We will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back,” Trump said. “Death, fire and fury will [rain] upon them. But I hope and pray that it does not happen.”
Petroleum prices have fluctuated significantly this week, going from $120 a barrel on Monday to $93 on Tuesday following a statement by Trump that the war against Iran was “complete,” the BBC reported.
