Iran Signals Readiness to Escalate War With U.S. Amid Rising Economic Pressure

Iran has signaled that it is willing to escalate its fight with the United States, with senior leaders issuing increasingly sharp warnings in recent days after attacking American warships for the first time. The country’s leaders are taking a more aggressive approach as Iran faces mounting economic pressure and they worry that their grip on the Strait of Hormuz is slipping. The American blockade is making it nearly impossible for Iran to ship oil, its main money source. And in effect, Iran sees escalation as the primary leverage it has against the United States. The situation, analysts say, raises the risk that a series of recent clashes could reignite a full-blown war. On Tuesday, the U.S. military said Iran had tried to attack an American warship , prompting an exchange of strikes. And on Saturday, Iran said it had attacked two U.S. military vessels with ballistic missiles. American forces responded by striking three Iranian oil tankers. A day later, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s lead negotiator and the speaker of Parliament, told lawmakers that the era of “proportionate responses” to American attacks was over. “From now on, any aggression against Iran’s interests and security will be met with a response that is faster, heavier, and more painful,” he said. Soon after, Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, announced plans to impose a “restricted zone” for shipping in the Persian Gulf that would go beyond the country’s efforts to control the Strait of Hormuz. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .