Iran Demands All-Out Retaliation Against Oil Tankers Amid Escalating Tensions
The hardline Kayhan newspaper in Iran has urged the government to launch overwhelming retaliatory strikes against all accessible oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and beyond if any single Iranian vessel is attacked.
The editorial proposed a sweeping deterrence policy, warning that massive disruptions to global shipping would permanently alter energy markets by creating an unfixable shortage of transport vessels.
'The Islamic Republic of Iran must officially announce that, from now on, if one Iranian tanker is attacked, it will target all tankers in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, as well as every tanker outside the region that lies within the reach of Iranian forces,' wrote Kayhan.
The newspaper argued that targeting vessels individually fails to establish an effective deterrent against enemy forces, asserting that destroying large numbers of commercial ships would create lasting consequences for international trade.