Iran warns of 'faster, heavier, more painful response' to US attacks

NEW: Iran warns of a 'faster, heavier, more painful response' to US attacks, a day after Washington said it struck Iranian oil tankers over Tehran's attacks on US warships in the region.

Iran is promising a faster, heavier, more painful response to American strikes.

That's from parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who said today the rules of the game have changed, and Americans must understand that before it is too late. It comes a day after Washington hit Iranian oil tankers, retaliation for Tehran attacking US warships, and Central Command released the footage of those strikes.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth put it bluntly, if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy and sink their oil tankers. Iran claims its navy attacked an American drone vessel near the Strait of Hormuz. Centcom calls that a total lie.

The strait itself has been effectively shut since this war began in February, and you can see what shipping there looks like now. Diesel in America has jumped from three seventy one a gallon a year ago to five eighty five on Friday, with midterms two months out. Six months of war, a dead ceasefire, and no diplomacy in sight.

This is Angel Manalo, reporting for HIT.