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Hormuz retaliation threat
U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the United States will destroy one bridge or one power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, with the threat extending to targets “located next to, or in,” the capital Tehran.
“US President Donald Trump warned Thursday that the US will destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz”
The warning came as the US carried out another wave of strikes on Iran overnight into Thursday, with air defences opening fire over Tehran, and as Iran launched a missile attack on a Jordanian city on Israel’s doorstep, according to 1News.
Al Jazeera reported that Trump’s warning, issued on Wednesday, would target Iran’s civilian infrastructure each time Tehran’s forces fire at a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, and framed it as a major escalation in a conflict already “spiralling across the region.”
The BBC said Trump’s threat followed the US launching strikes on Iran for the 11th consecutive night, with Tehran warning the US against targeting its nuclear facilities and Iranian state media reporting air defences activated in the capital Tehran.
In the same reporting, the BBC added that the military response would follow any form of attack on shipping in the vital waterway, “whether it be by missile, rocket, drone, or any other device or weapon.”
Iran’s counter-threats
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf appeared to brush off Trump’s threats, writing that “If our security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe, and the security of the strait is in the absence of American forces.”
Al Jazeera quoted Majid Mousavi, head of the Aerospace Force in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warning that if Iran’s power stations are hit, Tehran would retaliate against countries that host US troops, saying, “If our bridges and power plants are attacked, the power outage of the allies and hosts of the child killers is certain.”
The BBC reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would “defend” ships going through the straits getting “blown up,” while also saying US officials were “open to diplomacy” but Iran did not seem serious about that.
In parallel, CNBC reported that Rubio said Washington remains willing to negotiate an end to the war, while also warning that Iran “demands the right” to control traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a right it does not have under international law.
CNBC also reported that the US and Iran had been exchanging attacks for the past 12 days as the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was supposed to end the war got derailed over the fate of the Strait of Hormuz.
Costs, oil prices, diplomacy
The escalation has been accompanied by mounting costs and market pressure, with 1News reporting that defence secretary Pete Hegseth estimated the US had spent US$37.5 billion on the war so far and with Brent crude rising to more than US$93 a barrel.
BBC said the price of oil jumped in response to the latest escalation, reaching $94 on Wednesday, and it described how the closure of the strait had jolted the world economy with effects far beyond the Middle East.
1News also reported that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried attacks on infrastructure as “unacceptable” on Tuesday, and it noted that international law generally prohibits such attacks unless the infrastructure is being used for military purposes.
On the diplomatic front, 1News said Iranian Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Zeinivand stated “diplomacy isn’t called off” and that messages were still being exchanged, while BBC reported that Marco Rubio said the US was “open to diplomacy” but did not believe Iran was serious about talks.
In the US political arena, BBC reported that House Republicans approved a $95bn budget package that mostly would go to funding the Iran war, while CNBC said the threat was delivered via a Truth Social post and came as the recent deaths of three American service members were followed by a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
