- Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that future attacks on Iran would receive a “faster, heavier, and more painful” response. - U.S. Central Command said American forces struck three Iranian crude carriers after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched missiles toward two U.

S. Navy warships. - Ghalibaf also acknowledged "fundamental challenges" such as inflation, unemployment and exchange-rate volatility as Iran faces sanctions and disruptions to its oil trade. Iran's "proportionate responses" to U.S. attacks are over, the country's parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday, while acknowledging the economic impact of the war.

"If they haven't understood by now, they should understand before it's too late that the rules of the game have changed and that from now on, any violation of Iran's interests and security will receive a 'faster, heavier, and more painful' response," Ghalibaf said in a post on Telegram.

But Ghalibaf added that alongside the military conflict, Iran faces severe economic pressures. "Severe fluctuations in the exchange rate, inflation, unemployment, and market management are fundamental challenges that have put serious pressure on people's livelihoods," Ghalibaf said.

He also stressed the need to rely more on domestic production and use technology to "devise short-term and permanent solutions." Ghalibaf's remarks come after U.S. forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers. U.S. Central Command said it permanently disabled one crude oil carrier off the coast of Kharg Island and one near Jask.

Another oil tanker was attacked in the Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM said the attacks were in retaliation for ballistic missiles the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched toward two Navy warships in the region. According to CENTCOM, a U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple attacks, and no American personnel were harmed.

"Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours," Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in a statement Saturday. "We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet.

" Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth later wrote in a post on X: "It's simple: if Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot at @USNavy." Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and exported 90% of its crude via Kharg Island before the war.

Flows have been disrupted by a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil exports, which began in mid-April. The conflict between Iran and the U.S. has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the world's oil supply before the war began on Feb. 28 with American and Israeli airstrikes.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened in June to seize Kharg Island as the U.S. continued military strikes against Iran. Most recently, on Aug. 31, he posted an artificial intelligence-generated video of Kharg Island being blown up. Tightening sanctions The strike on the oil tankers came a day after the Treasury Department announced sanctions against a small Turkish investment bank and two of its subsidiaries, which the U.

S. accuses of facilitating funds for an arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The measures are part of sweeping sanctions the Trump administration launched in late August targeting Iran's access to digital assets, advanced technology procurement, gold reserves, commercial aviation and shipping.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said late last month that the country's trade has fallen sharply. Iran's gross domestic product is estimated to have contracted by 2.7% in the year ending March, according to the World Bank, citing economic disruption from last year's widespread protests and intensified hostilities in the region.

Inflation surged to 62.2% in February, with food price inflation reaching a historical high of 99%, according to the World Bank. An Iranian official estimated that the war has caused the loss of one million jobs, according to the New York Times.

US and Iran trade strikes as tensions escalate amid renewed conflict - US Central Command has struck three Iranian oil tankers, including one near the Kharg Island export hub, after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired ballistic missiles at two US Navy vessels.

- Admiral Brad Cooper declared that the US would exact a higher economic cost for attacks on its ships, confirming that no American personnel were harmed during the strike. - Iran's Revolutionary Guard retaliated by threatening further attacks on US military ships, claiming to have targeted three US-linked vessels and three tankers navigating unauthorised routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

- The Iranian Red Crescent has requested an International Criminal Court investigation into a suspected US strike on an Iranian wedding that left at least five people dead, accusing Washington of war crimes. - The recent exchanges represent a dangerous deepening of the wider conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran, which has flared repeatedly since initial strikes in February.

Iran attacks naval drone near Hormuz after US strikes 3 oil tankers The latest round of clashes, which began with US raids last week, comes amid a deadlock in the six-month war Iran said on Sunday that its forces attacked a US naval drone trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, hours after targeting ships in retaliation for American strikes on three oil tankers.

The latest round of clashes, which began with US raids last week, comes amid a deadlock in their six-month war. Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz while Washington continues a counter-blockade of Iranian ports. Washington is also seeking to choke Iran’s economy, rolling out sanctions on entities with financial links to the Islamic Republic in a bid to force it into submission.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, said on Sunday it “attacked an American military unmanned surface vessel” attempting to enter the strait, according to a statement carried by state television. Hours earlier, the IRGC said its naval forces “targeted three oil tankers on the unauthorised route of the Strait of Hormuz and three vessels affiliated with the child-killing America in other areas”.

The Pentagon reportedly subjected approximately 50 military officers and civilian employees on the US Joint Staff to polygraph tests in August as part of an internal investigation into suspected leaks of classified information to journalists during the war with Iran.

The investigation reportedly focused on media disclosures concerning the state of US ammunition and weapons stocks, particularly reports that the conflict had depleted supplies of long-range missiles and Patriot air-defence interceptors. Investigators sought to determine whether Joint Staff personnel had provided classified information to members of the media and identify the sources of the disclosures, as per media reports.

ALSO READ: US, Iran Locked In Fresh Counter Strikes After Vessel Attacks Off Hormuz And Kharg Island The Joint Staff, which includes roughly 1,500 to 2,000 personnel, assists senior military leadership with operations, policy and war planning. The reported testing involved both uniformed officers and civilian employees, while senior leadership, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.

Dan Caine, was reportedly not subjected to the tests. The unusually broad use of polygraph examinations has drawn attention from former military officials, with retired Rear Adm. Donald J. Guter describing the reported scale and seniority of the testing as unprecedented in his experience.

“I've never seen polygraphs employed this broadly or at this seniority level,” said Guter. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined to comment specifically on the investigation but said the Defense Department takes unauthorized disclosures of classified national-security information extremely seriously.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not held a press briefing on the Iran war since May 5 and has increasingly restricted media access at the Pentagon. ALSO READ: CENTCOM Hits Three Iranian Oil Carriers After Attack On US Warships The reported crackdown comes amid heightened tensions between the Pentagon and the media, as well as pressure from President Donald Trump, who has rejected reports of serious U.

S. ammunition shortages and criticized disclosures about weapons availability during the Iran conflict. Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.