Defense Doctrine Overhauled, Iran Warns of ‘Dark Months’ for U.S.
TEHRAN -- Iran has announced a fundamental shift in its defense doctrine, warning that future responses to U.S. aggression will be “asymmetric” and “multi-layered,” as senior officials vow to shatter Washington’s economic blockade and caution American citizens to prepare for severe economic disruptions.
First Vice President Muhammad Reza Aref declared on Thursday that the recent wave of U.S. military attacks on Iranian soil has permanently altered Tehran’s security equations.
“The new crimes committed by the United States against the Iranian nation have changed our security equations and defense doctrine,” Aref wrote on X. “From now on, our response will be ‘asymmetric,’ ‘multi-layered,’ and ‘security-depriving for the aggressor.’”
Aref issued a stark warning directed at the American public: “Americans should start thinking about stockpiling gasoline and fuel. Dark months await the American economy.”
The shift comes in the wake of U.S. airstrikes on Tuesday that targeted civilian areas across several Iranian provinces.
The most horrific incident occurred in the coastal village of Kouhestak in Hormozgan Province, where a U.S. missile struck a wedding celebration, killing five people including a four-year-old child and wounding 68 others, mostly women and children.
The attack was part of a broader wave of strikes that killed at least 18 and wounded 108 across Iran, according to Health Minister Muhammad-Reza Zafarghandi.
Former Iranian Foreign Minister and senior lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki warned Washington that any use of nuclear weapons against Iran would ignite a Third World War.
“In 1945, they used nuclear bombs to put an end to a war. This time, if they resort to nukes, they will start a war. And that will be the Third World War,” Mottaki said in an interview with Press TV.
He cautioned that a nuclear strike would plunge the entire region and the globe into “unprecedented chaos,” noting that unlike the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, NATO members have notably refused to join the U.S. in its war against Iran.
Mottaki also accused President Donald Trump of using stalling tactics to buy time before the U.S. elections, pointing to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding as a prime example of what he called deception.
“Trump did not want to actually comply with the provisions. He just wanted the signature to play games and spend time until election day without reaching a real agreement,” Mottaki said, noting that 62% of Americans currently oppose the war.
‘No Oil Will Leave This Region’
On the economic battlefield, Mottaki delivered a resolute message regarding the U.S. naval blockade: “We are not going to tolerate this anymore. If we cannot export oil, no one else in the whole region should be able to export any oil. Not only through the Persian Gulf, but through Aqaba and the Red Sea. No oil will be leaving this region.”
He affirmed Iran’s absolute authority over the Strait of Hormuz, dismissing U.S. attempts to bypass Iranian control.
“Iran was determined that vessels from an illegal route should be stopped. So we brought it to zero,” he said, stressing that once the US threat is removed, the strait will remain open for global trade, but never for hostile military fleets.
The warnings by Iranian officials arrive as the U.S. and its allies are already reeling from a severe energy crisis triggered by the war.
Since Iran imposed wartime restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz in late February, the American public has endured skyrocketing gasoline prices. A more crippling “diesel shock” is now threatening the U.S. supply chain, with the spread between diesel and crude oil prices in the United States now surpassing $100.
The economic blowback extends to Washington’s European allies. As the U.S. escalates its strikes against Iran, European benchmark natural gas futures have surged to their highest levels since January 2023, with Dutch front-month futures jumping nearly 6 percent to €73.95 ($85.62) per megawatt-hour.
According to one analysis, the war has cost American families about $1,000 per family so far, with direct taxpayer costs already exceeding $100 billion.
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to its lowest level since 1982, holding just 289.7 million barrels, with concerns mounting about potential damage to the salt caverns where the oil is stored.
In a pointed social media post, Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf directly addressed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has pursued buyback operations in the U.S. Treasury market in an effort to bring down long-term yields ahead of the midterm elections.
“Short harder, champ. Like your career depends on it (because it does). Or drain below the danger zone and watch your caverns collapse (along with your career). Or pray to the salt gods of Bryan Mound. The world’s already got its popcorn,” Ghalibaf wrote.
The combination of elevated bond yields, sharply reduced strategic oil reserves, and rising oil futures prices has created mounting pressure on Bessent and the Trump administration. Oman and UAE oil futures, closely watched as indicators of market expectations surrounding oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, have risen above $100 in recent days.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei also delivered a rebuke to Bessent, dismissing his aggressive rhetoric as the “ignorant boast of a child playing in a backyard.”
Drawing a historical parallel to the British Empire’s failed attempts to subjugate southern Iran over a century ago, Baghaei declared that Washington’s illegal “war of choice” against Iran has “shattered the illusion of American hegemony.”
“The biggest losers of this battlefield will be the Americans themselves,” Mottaki concluded.