Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the new US economic measures against Iran amount to “state terrorism”, are illegal and reprehensible, and form part of a “ruthless” economic campaign designed to inflict pain and suffering on Iranians

• Urges other countries to refrain from implementing the US sanctions
• Adds that Tehran said is determined to use all its capabilities to defend the country against a “combined US-Israeli military and economic assault”

Rhetoric of this kind from Tehran is the standard companion to US sanctions rounds and on its own has rarely been the market-moving variable; in past episodes the repricing in crude has come from what follows, namely whether enforcement actually tightens on Iranian barrels, whether waivers are revoked or extended, and whether Tehran responds through the proxy or maritime channels rather than the rhetorical one. The pairing of a 'US-Israeli military and economic assault' framing is the tell worth noting: language that bundles the economic and military tracks has historically preceded periods in which escalation risk, rather than sanctions mechanics, sets the risk premium in Gulf crude, freight, and insurance costs. The appeal for other countries to refrain from implementing US measures is a recurring feature of this sequence and has generally had limited effect on the states that matter for oil flows, with compliance hinging on secondary-sanction exposure rather than diplomatic suasion. The follow-ons that have mattered in comparable episodes are tanker-tracking data on Iranian exports, any designation of new entities in the shipping or banking chain, and signals from intermediaries on whether back-channel contacts survive the rhetoric. As a statement rather than an action, this is status-quo noise absent a matching operational step.