Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned Washington on Monday that any attack on Iranian assets would draw retaliation, responding directly to a threat from US War Secretary Pete Hegseth to sink Iran's oil tankers.

Hegseth said on Saturday that the US Navy would destroy and sink Iranian oil tankers if Iran fired on US ships, claiming that Iran's tanker fleet was defenseless since Iran has no navy or air force, and that US aircraft, ships, and submarines under CENTCOM and USPACOM could strike them all.

Ghalibaf replied in a post on X that the region's oil and gas production chain "is sprawling, accessible, and exposed," noting that US oil and gas companies operating in the same waters and facilities share that exposure.

"Strike our assets and you get struck," he said. "We've already proven it. Ask the bases that are no longer viable."

Source:Websites