Iran's Ceasefire Negotiator Warns US of "Faster, Heavier, and More Painful Retaliation"

Ghalibaf: "The Era of Proportional Responses Is Over"

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has been leading Iran's peace negotiations, warned on the 6th (local time) that "any action that infringes on Iran's interests or security will be met with 'faster, heavier, and more painful' retaliation" with regard to potential armed conflict with the United States.

According to Iran's state-run IRNA News Agency, Ghalibaf declared in a parliamentary pre-session speech on this day, "The era of proportional response is over." This was a reference to Iran's recent military operations targeting U.S. military bases.

He continued, "The strikes we inflicted on the invaders' bases recently are just the beginning," stressing, "If the United States still does not understand, it must realize—before it is too late—that the rules of the game have completely changed."

Ghalibaf further claimed, "As U.S. bases suffer damage from the strong strikes of the Iranian military, American leaders, now in a desperate situation, are creating fake images and videos using artificial intelligence (AI) in an attempt to manipulate the battlefield situation, uttering only empty words and slogans."

He also placed emphasis on internal unity of Iran's military as well as external deterrence. Ghalibaf stressed, "The Supreme Leader’s advice to beware of portraying ourselves as weak must be adopted as a strategic guideline in every field."

He called for the enhancement of domestic production capacity to overcome economic difficulties. Ghalibaf urged, "As the enemy intensifies sanctions to paralyze supply chains and the energy sector, we must rely on domestic production to build a barrier that shields us from the greed of foreign powers."

The United States Central Command stated the previous day that, "Following the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launching ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy vessels patrolling the waters, the U.S. military struck three Iranian oil tankers." The command also reported that there was no damage to U.S. Navy vessels from the Iranian attack.

An Iranian tanker that the U.S. military destroyed in response to a missile attack attempt on a U.S. Navy warship. Image provided by U.S. Central Command captured by Reuters. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

The Revolutionary Guard also claimed on the same day to have attacked a U.S. surface drone attempting to enter the Strait of Hormuz and to have launched several ballistic missiles at one U.S. aircraft carrier and one destroyer.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.