Iran said it would intensify efforts to address economic damage from U.S. sanctions, while Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that any further attack on Iran’s interests or security would draw a faster, heavier and more painful response. Six months after U.S.-Israeli strikes, the conflict appears deadlocked: a preliminary ceasefire reached in June has unravelled, diplomatic efforts have made little progress, and tit-for-tat attacks resumed after much of July passed without military action. U.S. Central Command said it struck three Iranian tankers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military force, launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy ships. Tehran has retained the ability to threaten U.S. interests in neighboring countries and disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried one-fifth of global oil supplies before the conflict. Iranian officials also acknowledged mounting pressure from the campaign to block oil exports and prevent sanctions evasion. Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said Tehran would counter the pressure through reforms rather than change course, while deputy minister Morteza Zamanian said the ministry’s Economic War Headquarters was intensifying efforts to resolve wartime problems. Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said Kharg Island, Iran’s principal export hub, had been hit about 550 times in previous months but remained operational. The IRGC later threatened more attacks on U.S. vessels, while Iran said it had targeted the three tankers and three U.S.-linked vessels elsewhere. Tasnim reported that a tanker near Kharg was hit by four U.S. missiles, with no casualties, and that the crew was evacuated. Central Command said no American personnel were harmed. Tasnim also reported that the IRGC shot down a U.S. surveillance balloon over Erbil in northern Iraq.