Iran’s Acting Defence Minister says Iran’s military strength is intended to deter war and that Tehran has never initiated, and will not initiate, aggression against another country, Al Mayadeen reports

Statements of this kind from Iranian defence officials are a standing feature of the regional information cycle and, on their own, have rarely moved crude, freight or regional risk premia; the channel that matters is physical, namely tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and insurance rates on Gulf loadings, and rhetorical reassurance does not alter those flows. The distinction worth drawing is between scripted deterrence language, which this reads as, and any accompanying operational signal such as force posture changes, missile tests or proxy activity, since it is the latter that has historically repriced the geopolitical premium in the front of the oil curve. The attribution to an acting rather than confirmed minister, carried by a regionally aligned outlet, fits the pattern of messaging aimed at a domestic and regional audience during periods of transition or heightened scrutiny rather than at signalling a policy shift. Past episodes show that de-escalatory rhetoric from Tehran tends to be discounted unless matched by behaviour, and conversely that the market has been burned more often by actions than by words. The follow-ons worth noting are any change in naval deployments, enrichment-related announcements and the response from Washington and Tel Aviv, which together carry more information than the statement itself.