Iran threatened the United States with what it called “economic warfare” on Tuesday, while an Iranian official warned of a new maritime exclusion zone in the Persian Gulf and Tehran said it had used an advanced ballistic missile against US warships.
The threats come amid renewed exchanges between Iran and the US in the six-month-old war. US forces last struck Iranian targets on Saturday, hitting three Iranian oil tankers, while Iranian state media reported the following day that Iran had launched a Qassem Basir missile.
Iran has continued disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz despite US efforts to reopen the strategic waterway. The war began with US and Israeli strikes on February 28, and there has been no indication of a diplomatic breakthrough.
The Islamic Republic has said it intends to announce a new restricted maritime area in the Gulf in the coming days, together with maps outlining a new shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said the restricted area would begin where the US blockade of Iran starts and extend into the Gulf. He said vessels entering the zone would be placed on an Iranian sanctions list.
On Tuesday, Rezaei issued further economic and military threats in a post on X.
“In recent days, Washington has received a clear warning from Iran’s new missiles. Economic warfare will be met by a maritime exclusion zone across the Persian Gulf to the blockade perimeter. The operational posture toward U.S. warships and bases has been fundamentally recalibrated,” he wrote.
Rezaei appeared to be referring to the Qassem Basir ballistic missile, which Iranian media said had been launched at US warships near the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said its vessels had evaded missile attacks.
Iran has described the Qassem Basir as an upgraded missile featuring greater maneuverability and a guidance system designed to operate against electronic warfare and evade missile defenses. Iran’s Fars news agency reported that the missile was first used in combat against Israel in June 2025.
Despite large-scale US attacks that have damaged Iran’s conventional military forces and placed further pressure on its economy, Tehran has retained missile and drone capabilities. Iran has used those capabilities to threaten tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz without its permission and to strike Gulf countries hosting US military bases.
The renewed threats come as the US naval blockade is placing increasing pressure on Iranian oil exports.
According to ship-tracking firm Kpler, cited in a Wall Street Journal report on Monday, no Iranian crude has passed through the US blockade since the Navy reinstated it in mid-July. Iran continues loading limited quantities of crude onto tankers, but that oil has remained inside the Gulf.
At the same time, Iran’s stock of crude aboard vessels already outside the blockade has declined sharply. Kpler estimated that the amount had fallen from approximately 90 million barrels in mid-July to about 29 million barrels. Those supplies continue to provide revenue to Tehran but could be exhausted next month.
Gulf oil officials also said their monitoring of customer purchases had identified few Iranian crude cargoes being traded.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has meanwhile fallen substantially. An average of approximately 10 commodity vessels per day crossed the strait during the past 10 days, the lowest level since May.
Before the war, roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments traveled through the Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump said that oil prices would fall sharply following a US victory over Iran and reiterated that Iran would not be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon.
“Oil prices will drop precipitously, like everything else is dropping (but more!), when we WIN the war with Iran. Three Dollars a gallon, but ultimately, below Two Dollars a gallon. It will all happen quickly, and Iran will never have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote on social media.