Iran warns of ‘zero’ restraint if oil infrastructure attacked again

The message on Thursday, 19 March, the 20th day of the war on Iran, was defiant and stark. “Our response to Israel's attack on our infrastructure (the retaliatory attacks on the oil fields in GCC countries) employed a ‘fraction’ of our power. The only reason for restraint was respect for requested de-escalation. Zero restraint if our infrastructures are struck again. Any end to this war must address damage to our civilian sites,” said a statement from Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi.

Even as US President Donald Trump and defence secretary Pete Hegseth continued to threaten Iran with even more severe carpet bombing than before, Iranian leaders responded by mocking them.

Referring to Hegseth saying that Pentagon would require $200 billion more to finish the war on Iran, Araghchi posted this on X: “We are only three weeks into this war of choice, imposed on both Iranians and Americans. This $200b is the tip of the iceberg. Ordinary Americans can thank Benjamin Netanyahu and his lackeys in the US Congress for the trillion-dollar "Israel First tax" that's about to hit US economy.”

Even more sarcastic was this tweet which said, “according to statements by Israeli and American military officials, 320 per cent of Iran’s missile launchers have been destroyed so far. However, Iran continues to launch missiles at a high rate. Now, the enemy aims to destroy up to 500 per cent of them! A unique achievement for the US military!” from Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

In a more measured response, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian said in a statement, “Israel has no regard for the repercussions of the normalisation of its heinous methods of terror. But the international community should not disregard that recklessness; as for every action there will inevitably and always be a reaction.”

For the first time, there was admission from within Israel that it is being hit hard by Iranian missiles. A military spokesman was shown on Fox News accusing Iran of committing war crimes by hitting civilian areas with cluster missiles. On the same show, the spokesman admitted that air defence systems in several parts of Israel had suffered extensive ‘degradation’.

As the war of words continue to mark the senseless ‘war of choice’, Trump’s post on Truth Social created a buzz. “Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran. A relatively small section of the whole has been hit.

"The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen. Unfortunately, Iran did not know this, or any of the pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack…,” the post said. The President then went on to warn that if Iran dared to hit Qatar’s gas field again, the US would destroy the entire South Pars gas field.

To complete a day of mixed messages, US treasury secretary Scott Besssent declared that just as US sanctions on Russian oil had been relaxed, the US may withdraw sanctions on Iranian oil too, especially the containers already on the high seas.