Iran Threatens US with “Economic Warfare”

Iran threatened the United States with “economic warfare” on Tuesday and claimed it had fired an advanced ballistic missile at US warships, raising the risk of further escalation just days after the two sides traded blows again.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran would announce a new restricted zone in the Persian Gulf and maps of a new shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days.

The zone would begin where the US blockade of Iran starts and extend into the Gulf. Any vessel entering it would be placed on Iran’s sanctions list.

Rezaei also said Washington had received a warning from Iran’s new missiles and that Tehran’s operational posture toward US warships and bases had fundamentally changed. He was likely referring to the Qassem Basir ballistic missile, which Iranian media reported was fired at US warships near the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said its vessels had evaded the missile attacks.

Before the war, about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the strategic waterway. Over the past 10 days, an average of just 10 commodity vessels a day have transited the strait – the lowest level since May.

(Reuters, bak)