Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament and the country's chief nuclear negotiator, fired a pointed provocation at Washington on Sunday, arguing that Iran holds more unplayed cards in the global oil market than the United States.
The warning posted on X by Ghalibaf also said that American consumers will feel the consequences at the pump when summer driving season begins.
"They brag about the cards," Ghalibaf wrote, before laying out a blunt energy ledger. "Supply Cards = Demand Cards," he posted, framing the standoff as a high-stakes poker game over global crude flows.
On Iran's side of the ledger, Ghalibaf listed the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20 percent of the world's oil normally flows — as only "partly played." The Bab el-Mandeb strait and regional oil pipelines, he said, remain entirely unplayed.
Against those, he placed what he characterized as Washington's depleted hand: Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases already spent, demand destruction only partly absorbed, and further price adjustments still ahead.
And, at the end, given a punchline, "Add summer vacation to the right unless they want to cancel it for the US!"
They brag about the cards.
— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 26, 2026
Let's see:
Supply Cards= Demand Cards
SOH (partly played)+BEM(unplayed)+Pipelines(unplayed)= Inv Release (played)+Demand Destruction (partly played)+⏳More Price Adj (to come)
Add summer vacation to the right unless they want to cancel it for the US!
The post is, reportedly, a direct response to Trump administration officials who earlier said that the United States holds superior energy leverage in the ongoing conflict.
Since military action began in late February, the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to normal shipping, with Goldman Sachs estimating that oil exports through the chokepoint have collapsed roughly 95 percent from pre-war levels. Brent crude is trading near $100 per barrel.
Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guards commander who has emerged as a frequent interlocutor with global energy markets, has previously warned American consumers to "enjoy the current pump figures," suggesting prices would climb further if US pressure on Iran intensified.
ALSO READ: Brent Crude Surges Past $107 As Hormuz Stays Shut, Iran-US Talks Stall
Iran's vice president separately warned that any damage to Iranian oil infrastructure would result in fourfold retaliation against the energy assets of countries supporting the US.
Peace talks between Washington and Tehran, held in Islamabad earlier this month, ended without a resolution. A fragile ceasefire has since lapsed, and a second round of negotiations has yet to be confirmed.
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