Qalibaf warns the US that Iran’s responses will be faster, stronger and more painful

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf has warned the United States that Tehran’s response to any future attack will be “faster, stronger and more painful.” His message came as the conflict entered a new escalation and he argued that the era of proportional responses had ended.

“The Americans surely must have understood that the era of ‘proportional responses’ has come to an end,” Qalibaf said in a speech broadcast by Iran’s state television channel IRIB. He said Iran’s recent attacks on bases of what he called aggressors were only a beginning, and warned that the rules of the game had changed.

Qalibaf, who also serves as Iran’s main negotiator in peace talks with the United States and previously commanded the Revolutionary Guard, said any violation of Iran’s interests and security would draw a stronger response. His warning came a day after the United States attacked three Iranian oil tankers. Iran then attacked US vessels, including an American aircraft carrier and a Navy destroyer, according to the report.

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faster, stronger and more painful

The United States carried out its hardest bombing campaign against Iran in more than a month this week. Iranian authorities said the strikes killed at least 19 people, including five at a wedding. Iran responded with bombardments targeting Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Tehran blocked the Strait of Hormuz after the war began on Feb. 28, making the waterway its main source of pressure by halting nearly all oil exports and requiring vessels to obtain permission to pass. The United States has imposed a cordon around Iranian ports and ships and, in recent weeks, restored part of maritime traffic through a southern route near Oman, according to oil and Middle East experts cited in the report.

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The Americans surely must have understood that the era of ‘proportional responses’ has come to an end