Tehran: Iran is threatening to prevent other countries in the region from exporting oil if it is unable to export its own amid its conflict with the United States. "This war leaves no middle ground, it is a matter of all or nothing," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament and chief negotiator, wrote on X on Wednesday. "In this region, if we are unable to sell our oil, then no one else will be able to either." He added: "Our security is the prerequisite for all regional infrastructure; without it, nothing stays safe."

According to Nam News Network, referring to the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital for global oil trade, Ghalibaf said that the security of the strait depends on there being no US forces stationed there. Iran has repeatedly stated that the situation there will not return to how it was before the war.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would destroy a bridge or power station in Iran every time the Islamic Republic fired on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict between the US and Iran escalated again in early July over control of the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran had attacked ships in the strait. Most recently, the US attacked targets in Iran for 11 consecutive nights.

The US is also once again enforcing a naval blockade against ships heading to or coming from Iranian ports. Since the blockade was reinstated at the start of last week, US forces have diverted nine ships and disabled another, according to CENTCOM, the US command responsible for the region. Iran demands that ships take a route along its own coastline and has repeatedly stated that only the route through the Strait of Hormuz specified by Tehran is safe.