A sharp exchange of words broke out between the United States and Iran after US President Donald Trump warned Tehran it would face overwhelming military retaliation if it moved to block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing an immediate and defiant response from a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader.
In a social media post, Trump said the United States would respond “twenty times harder" than previous strikes if Iran took any action to halt oil flows through the strait. He also warned that Washington could target Iranian assets in ways that would make it “virtually impossible" for the country to rebuild. Trump framed keeping the waterway open as a matter of global interest, citing the dependence of China and other major oil-importing nations on the route for their energy supplies.
The response from Tehran was swift. Ali Larijani posted a message in Arabic rejecting what he called “empty threats" from Washington.
“The Iranian people of Ashura do not fear your empty threats," he wrote, adding that even powerful adversaries had historically failed to eliminate Iran and warning the United States to “beware lest you be the ones who disappear."
The exchange marks a sharp escalation in rhetoric over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly a fifth of global oil shipments normally pass. Energy markets and regional governments have been on edge over the possibility of a sustained disruption to the shipping lane, which would deliver a significant shock to global oil supplies.
