Iran threatens $200 per oil barrel as tensions with US escalate

Iran has warned that oil prices could surge to $200 per barrel amid rising tensions with the United States following American strikes on Iranian targets in the Gulf region.

“As long as the Americans continue their military adventures in our region, no agreement will be reached," Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, wrote on X, Caliber.Az reports. 

He claimed that the US government "has repeatedly shown that it only understands the language of force."

"Say hello to $200 oil,”he wrote.

As long as the Americans continue their military adventures in our region, no agreement will be reached.

The US government has repeatedly shown that it only understands the language of force.

Say hello to $200 oil.

— Ebrahim Zolfaghari ☫ (@ibrahim_zolfgri) May 26, 2026

The warning came after reports that U.S. forces had carried out strikes in southern Iran targeting missile launch sites and vessels allegedly involved in laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil shipping routes.

According to Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin, who cited U.S. Central Command spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins, the strikes targeted missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to place mines in the strategic waterway.

A senior U.S. official told the network that two Iranian boats had been caught laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

By Sabina Mammadli