TEHRAN -- Iranian Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned the United States on Monday that any attack on Iran’s oil and gas assets would draw retaliation against American energy interests across the region.

Ghalibaf issued the warning in a post on X in response to recent threats by U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had claimed that Iran’s oil tanker fleet is “defenseless” and that American planes, ships and submarines can strike them all.

“It’s simple: the oil and gas production chain here is sprawling, accessible, and exposed. American oil and gas companies across these waters and facilities share that exposure,” Ghalibaf wrote.

“Strike our assets and you get struck. We’ve already proven it. Ask the bases that are no longer viable,” he added, referring to Iranian attacks on U.S. military bases in the region throughout the war.

The exchange of threats came after U.S. and Iranian strikes on shipping over the weekend that pushed oil prices to six-week highs at one point on Monday. U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, while Iran said it had launched ballistic missiles at U.S. warships operating near the strait and hit six oil tankers.

Iran has restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz since the early days of the U.S.-Israeli war that began on February 28 and came to a halt under a ceasefire in early April.  

Ghalibaf also ridiculed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s economic predictions. Bessent had suggested in a recent Fox News interview that the U.S. economy is in the “liftoff phase” ahead of the midterm elections and predicted oil prices could drop to $40-$50 from current highs, according to Iranian media reports.

Ghalibaf responded sarcastically: “Warming up... before takeoff,” while pointing to record

 fuel prices, falling yields of dollar-denominated bonds, and low military recruitment rates as evidence of U.S. economic strain.
“Liar, liar, yields on fire,” Ghalibaf wrote, sharing an article by economist Paul Krugman that criticized Bessent’s economic management.
The Iranian speaker also noted that Japan — the largest foreign holder of U.S. bonds — had reduced its holdings by $80 billion, and pointed to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve falling to its lowest level since the early 1980s amid the war.