With global energy arteries under mounting pressure, US President Donald Trump has warned he will order the destruction of an Iranian bridge or power plant each time Iran fires on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz — a stark escalation as Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen threaten disruption of a second strategic chokepoint.
In the Red Sea today, five tankers altered their routes to steer clear of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The moves followed a Houthi threat to block Saudi oil exports, underscoring fresh danger to international crude supplies as the conflict intensifies.
Three tankers carrying Saudi oil bound for China and India turned back yesterday.
Iran’s joint military command, cited by state media, warned that if Trump’s pledge were carried out, Iranian forces would strike regional oil, gas, electricity and economic infrastructure and would halt exports of “even a single drop of oil”.
“Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response.
“Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on social media.
Iran’s near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has already fueled inflation worldwide. Now, the added peril for shipping posed by the Houthis — who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — has helped push oil prices to a near six-week high.
Millions of barrels of Saudi oil per day have been heading to the kingdom’s Red Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.
If tankers cannot transit the Red Sea’s southern gateway, they are left with only the northern passage through the Suez Canal — a detour that adds weeks to voyages and sharply increases freight and transit bills.
Trump in a ‘quagmire’, Iranian official says
US strikes have expanded beyond the south, reaching western and central parts of Iran.
This week, Tehran hit key water desalination and energy facilities in Kuwait and struck American military assets there, as well as in Bahrain and Jordan.
Iran has reinforced its armed forces in expectation that adversaries would renege on agreements, Army Commander-in-Chief Major General Amir Hatami said.
Iranian media quoted Hasan Qashqavi, spokesperson for parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, as saying Trump was in a “quagmire”.
An Iranian health ministry official said 53 civilians had been killed and 592 wounded since late last month. The US military has said it never targets civilians.
The war has led to the deaths of 18 American service members and injured more than 450 troops.
The body of an American soldier killed in the Middle East is returned to the US
President Trump attended a ceremony today at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for four US troops killed in Iranian attacks on military bases over the last few days — three in Jordan and one in Iraq.
“For me it’s one of the hardest things to do as a president. But it has to be done,” he said before leaving for the event.
Mediators have presented Iran with a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire, a senior Iranian official said earlier this week.
The plan aims to salvage an interim truce agreement signed by Washington and Tehran last month.
Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan this week and urged it to continue its mediation efforts.
Pakistan said it would, but stressed that shipping safety must be guaranteed.
People on the streets in the Iranian capital, Tehran
Iran has insisted on keeping the control of the Strait of Hormuz that it established during the war launched by the US and Israel on 28 February.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said permitting Iran to hold such control would create a dangerous precedent globally, including in Southeast Asia, where many states have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
Iran was not serious about talks, he added.
“If they’re serious, we’re serious. If they’re not, then we will do what’s necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies,” he told reporters at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in the Philippines.
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As US bombing of Iran entered an 11th straight night, residents in Tehran reported explosions in the early hours of today as air defences activated over the capital, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
In Bushehr province — home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant — an official told state news agency IRNA that three locations were struck, including an electricity post close to the site.
Iranian media also reported US strikes on locations in central Hamadan province, without providing details.
Iran’s army said it hit accommodation and storage facilities at the US Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan, targeted warehouses and aircraft maintenance hangars at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, and struck Camp Doha in Kuwait.
Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain each said they had intercepted Iranian attacks.
