Senior adviser to Iran’s leadership says Tehran expects economic pressure on Gulf states to mount as the war with the United States continues.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A senior Iranian official said Monday that Tehran is prepared to sustain a prolonged conflict with the United States, warning that the war could expand economic pressure across the Middle East and potentially draw other nations into efforts to halt the fighting.
Kamal Kharazi, a foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, delivered the remarks during an interview with CNN in Tehran as hostilities between Iran, the United States and Israel entered their tenth day.
“I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore,” Kharazi said during the interview. “Because Donald Trump had been deceiving others and not keeping with his promises, and we experienced this in two times of negotiations — that while we were engaged in negotiation, they struck us.”
Kharazi indicated that Iran is willing to continue attacks against targets in Gulf nations if the conflict persists, arguing that mounting economic disruption could compel regional governments to pressure Washington to end the war.
“There’s no room unless the economic pressure would be built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran,” he said.
He added that inflation, energy shortages and broader economic consequences across the region could eventually force outside governments to intervene diplomatically.
“This war has been producing a lot of pressure — economic pressure — on others, in terms of inflation, in terms of lack of energy, and so if it will be continued, this pressure will be built up more, and therefore others have no choice to intervene,” Kharazi said.
Since the United States and Israel launched coordinated military operations against Iranian targets, Tehran has responded with strikes across several countries in the Middle East. Iranian officials have said the attacks are directed at U.S. interests located in Gulf nations, though the violence has also affected residential areas and airport facilities in parts of the region.
The conflict has significantly disrupted global energy markets by threatening oil infrastructure and shipping lanes throughout the Persian Gulf.
Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has declined sharply as security risks escalate. Oil prices surged above $100 per barrel amid the instability, according to a report on crude price movements that highlighted the market volatility tied to the conflict.
Analysts estimate that roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply has been affected by the fighting, according to data compiled by Rapidan Energy Group. That level of disruption is roughly double the supply shock experienced during the Suez crisis of 1956–1957.
Energy analysts say the conflict has also eroded much of the global oil market’s “spare capacity,” which refers to reserve production that can be brought online quickly to stabilize supply during disruptions.
A spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday that the military has deployed about 60 percent of its available firepower in strikes against U.S. bases and what it described as strategic targets throughout the region.
As the conflict continues, governments across the Middle East and international energy markets are closely monitoring the possibility of further escalation that could affect shipping routes, oil infrastructure and regional security.
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