US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to expand the American military campaign against Iran to include the country’s power plants and bridges unless Tehran returned to negotiations, as US forces launched another wave of air strikes and began enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
“Next week is going to be very bad for them,” Trump told Fox News. “We will destroy all of their power plants, and we will destroy all of their bridges if they do not come back to the table and negotiate.”
Trump said the United States would strike Iran “very hard” over the coming nights and, when asked how long the campaign would continue, replied: “It will continue until I say enough.”
Axios, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Trump convened a meeting in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday to discuss a significantly broader military campaign extending beyond current operations centred on the Strait of Hormuz. According to US officials, the immediate objective is to further degrade Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and regional maritime security.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had launched a fresh series of precision strikes against Iranian military targets. Fighter aircraft, drones and naval vessels targeted missile and drone launch sites, coastal defence systems and naval assets using precision-guided munitions.
CENTCOM said it completed a seven-hour wave of attacks late on Tuesday, striking dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran’s southern coastline. The command said the operation was intended to further reduce Iran’s ability to threaten commercial vessels and civilian shipping in the strategic waterway.
The strikes coincided with the start of a US naval blockade covering ships travelling to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas. Shipping-tracking data showed that 11 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, nine of them using the Iranian shipping lane, a slight increase shortly before the new restrictions took effect.
Iranian media reported explosions and air strikes in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan and Hormozgan, as well as an explosion on Hengam Island. The Mehr news agency reported that air defence systems were activated around the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
A senior Iranian health official said more than 260 people had been wounded in the latest US strikes.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks as “aggressive and illegal” and vowed that the country’s armed forces would respond. It accused Washington of violating the memorandum of understanding between the two sides and warned that Tehran could suspend its own commitments if the United States failed to honour its obligations.
The confrontation also spread beyond Iran’s borders.
Jordan’s military said its air defences intercepted and destroyed three missiles launched from Iranian territory after they entered Jordanian airspace. No casualties or material damage were reported.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Defence Force said its air defence systems repelled several Iranian attacks early on Wednesday, accusing Tehran of deliberately targeting civilian areas.
In southern Iraq, an unidentified drone crashed and exploded inside the Grand Faw Port project, causing limited material damage but no injuries, Iraqi officials said.