Trump vows to strike Iran’s bridges, power plants if it shoots at ships in Hormuz
New risk to Red Sea shipping from the Houthis pushed oil prices to a near six-week high
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[CAIRO/MANILA] US President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday (Jul 22) to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes in the war with Iran as Iranian-allied Houthis in Yemen threatened a second vital energy route.
Five tankers changed course in the Red Sea to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday, a day after the Houthi threat to block Saudi oil exports highlighted a new risk to global oil supplies from the escalating conflict. Three tankers loaded with Saudi oil for China and India made U-turns on Tuesday.
Iran’s joint military command warned, according to state media, that if Trump’s threat against infrastructure was carried out, Iranian forces would target regional oil, gas, electricity and economic infrastructure and prevent the export of “even a single drop of oil.”
“Our defence doctrine is clear: eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi said on X.
Iran’s near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has stoked inflation around the world, and the new risk to shipping from the Houthis, who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, pushed oil prices to a near six-week high.
Brent crude futures hit more than US$95 a barrel before easing back to settle just above US$94 a barrel. U.S. gasoline prices have climbed back over US$4 a gallon, squeezing US consumers and weighing on Trump’s poll ratings ahead of congressional elections in November.
Millions of barrels per day of Saudi oil have been heading to the kingdom’s Red Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. If shipments cannot pass through the Red Sea’s southern strait, they have only the northern route through the Suez Canal, which adds weeks to the journey and significantly raises freight and transit costs.
Moreover, the Houthi threat to impose a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea could significantly widen the war and strain a US military already focused on stopping Teheran’s attacks across the region, current and former US officials said.
Trump in a ‘quagmire’
In 11 straight days of attacks since a June ceasefire fell apart, American strikes have widened from the south to western and central areas of Iran.
Despite triumphant statements from Washington, Iran has demonstrated it retains missile and drone capabilities. Iran pounded vital water desalination and energy plants in Kuwait this week and targeted US military assets there, in Bahrain and in Jordan.
Iran strengthened its military in anticipation that its adversaries would break agreements, Army Commander-in-Chief Major General Amir Hatami said. Iranian media cited parliamentary national security and foreign policy committee spokesperson Hasan Qashqavi as saying Trump was in a “quagmire”.
An Iranian health ministry official said 53 civilians had been killed and 592 wounded since late June. Since the US and Israel launched the war on Feb 28, thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced.
The US military has said it never targets civilians, which could violate the 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war. Trump, however, has repeatedly threatened to attack civilian infrastructure, which may be targeted if it is also being used for military purposes, provided the civilian harm is not excessive.
The war has also led to the deaths of 18 US service members and injured more than 450 troops. Trump attended a ceremony on Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for four US service members 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,” Trump said before leaving for the ceremony.
Later, at a speech in Georgia, Trump struck a different tone, saying of the war, “I call it a skirmish.”
Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf during the early days of the war have prompted US intelligence analysts to investigate whether Russia assisted by providing targeting information or advanced drone technology, said four people familiar with US intelligence.
‘If they’re serious, we’re serious’: Rubio
Amid diplomatic efforts to salvage the 14-point memorandum of understanding signed in June that led to a temporary respite from all-out war, Iran has insisted on maintaining control over the Strait of Hormuz that it established during the war.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said allowing Iran to have such control would set a dangerous precedent for the world, including South-east Asia, where many countries have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
Iran was not serious about talks, he said.
“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,” Rubio told reporters at a meeting of South-east Asian foreign ministers in Manila. REUTERS
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