Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday the country's restrained responses to U.S. attacks are over, a day after American forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers. The strikes followed Iranian missile launches at two U.S. Navy warships, and traders are now watching oil, gold and crypto for early signals ahead of Tuesday's stock-market reopening.
Iran's parliament speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Sunday the country's restrained responses to U.S. attacks are over. The warning came a day after U.S. Central Command struck three Iranian crude oil carriers, permanently disabling one off Kharg Island and one near Jask, and hitting a third in the Gulf of Oman. According to Ghalibaf: "faster, heavier, and more painful" is how he described the response any further violation of Iran's security would draw.
Strikes follow missile launches at Navy ships
CENTCOM said the strikes were retaliation after Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy warships in the region, an attack that a carrier and guided-missile destroyer evaded without American casualties. Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said any attack on two U.S. ships would draw retaliation against three Iranian vessels instead, calling it a higher economic cost for Tehran.
Iran is the third-largest producer in OPEC and shipped 90% of its crude via Kharg Island before the war. A U.S. blockade of Iranian oil exports since mid-April has already disrupted those flows, and the fighting that began Feb. 28 has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz.
Sanctions deepen Iran's economic strain
The tanker strikes came a day after the Treasury Department sanctioned a Turkish investment bank and two subsidiaries accused of moving funds for Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The measure is part of sweeping sanctions the Trump administration launched in late August targeting Iran's digital assets, advanced technology imports, gold reserves, commercial aviation and shipping.
Iran's gross domestic product is estimated to have contracted 2.7% in the year ending March, according to the World Bank. Separately, inflation surged to 62.2% in February, and food-price inflation reached a historical high of 99%. Ghalibaf also pointed to currency swings, inflation and unemployment as core economic strains Iran faces amid sanctions and disrupted oil trade.
Traders watch oil, gold and crypto over the holiday
Crude oil is the market traders are watching most directly, followed by gold and stock-index futures. Iran's latest warning puts oil supply and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz back in focus for traders, according to investingLive.
Bitcoin and Ethereum trade throughout the U.S. holiday weekend and can offer an early read on risk appetite, though their moves cannot reliably predict Tuesday's stock-market direction.
U.S. stocks are closed Monday for Labor Day and reopen Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. New York time. Persistent oil strength alongside weakening equity futures would signal that the standoff's fallout is spreading beyond energy into corporate earnings.
Sources: CNBC, investingLive
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