TEHRAN -- Iran’s Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday warned the United States that any aggression against the country will be met with a “faster, heavier, and more painful” response than those received by the enemy so far.
Ghalibaf made the remarks during a parliamentary session on Sunday as tensions escalate between Iran and the U.S. due to the latter’s shift to economic terrorism after suffering a disgraceful military defeat.
“The Americans must have realized by now that the days of ‘proportionate responses’ are over. The strikes we carried out in recent operations against the aggressor’s bases were only the beginning,” he said.
“If they still haven’t gotten the message, they need to understand—before it’s too late—that the rules of the game have changed. From now on, any aggression against Iran’s interests and security will be met with a response that is faster, heavier, and more painful.”
Ghalibaf’s reference is to a broader shift in Iran’s military strategy, which has moved from a primarily defensive posture to one that includes preemptive operations.
According to Iranian officials, this new doctrine has already been put into practice. For example, they point to an attack early this month on a U.S. base in Jordan that was carried out as American forces were “mobilizing troops and equipment for further attacks on Iran”.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy on Sunday announced that it had struck three U.S.-linked vessels and three oil tankers in retaliation for American attacks on Iranian ships as part of its newly-announced economic terrorism.
Ghalibaf hoped that through the efforts of the country’s institutions and the extraordinary resilience of the Iranian people, the country will defeat the enemy in the economic war just as decisively as it did in the military and diplomatic arenas.
“Standing firm and maintaining our authority are essential when we are in the midst of an all-out war against the entire front of disbelief,” he said.
“Following devastating strikes by our military forces on U.S. bases, American leaders have been driven into a state of desperation while resorting to empty rhetoric and slogans, and using artificial intelligence to create images and videos of the battlefield,” he added.
Ghalibaf emphasized that alongside the military front, the most important battle today is in the sphere of production and people’s livelihood.
He called for both short-term and lasting solutions for Iran’s major challenges, including severe fluctuations in currency prices, inflation, and unemployment, relying on domestic production and the technological potential of young, talented experts.
“At a time when the enemy is seeking to paralyze the supply chain and energy management by intensifying sanctions, we must build a barrier against foreign ambitions by creating new capacities for smart import management, encouraging domestic production, and drawing on the capabilities of our talented experts,” he said.
Additionally, he said that maintaining “internal cohesion” and “external deterrent power” are two important tools for confronting the adversary.
The United States and Israel launched their illegal war of aggression against Iran on February 28 by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders.
Forty days later, on April 8, the enemies were forced to accept a ceasefire amid Iran’s resistance, successful retaliatory operations, and a powerful grip on the Strait of Hormuz.
In July, the United States conducted waves of deadly air raids on Iran and imposed a naval blockade of the country in violation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Islamic Republic, signed on June 17, to end the war.
In response, the Iranian armed forces launched devastating strikes against strategic American targets across West Asia and declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all traffic.