Trump Resumes Iran Port Blockade And Threatens Strikes On Energy Targets

CAIRO/DUBAI/WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump reimposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports on Tuesday and threatened to hit power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran resumes talks, in the latest U.S. escalation of the conflict.

The US also launched a new round of strikes “to continue disrupting the capabilities Iran uses to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the US military said.

Tehran said it reopened the strait last week after hostilities between Iran and the United States reignited, eroding an already fragile ceasefire reached in June after months of fighting that left thousands dead.

“I’ll save the energy goals for last, but eventually we’ll get to the energy goals,” Trump told Fox News in an interview airing Tuesday night on “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

“Power plants will come next week, bridges next week,” Trump said, “unless they sit down and negotiate.”

He added that US negotiators have been in contact with their Iranian counterparts and told them “you better make a deal.”

Iran’s military said it launched drone strikes on US positions at Jordan’s Azraq base early Wednesday. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said they targeted weapons and storage facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.

The flare-up in the last few days has raised doubts that the memorandum of understanding signed last month will lead to a permanent halt to the war that has engulfed Iran’s neighbors and disrupted global energy supplies.

In a statement made to state media late Tuesday by the governor’s office, it was stated that American bullets hit a point around Bandar Abbas, an Iranian city in the strait. Iranian state news agency IRNA said that US bullets hit an area near Sirik in southern Iran.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Garibabadi said in a statement to state television, “The United States is making a mistake if it thinks that we will return to negotiations by tightening its measures, military actions and economic blockade against us.”

Before the war began in February, about one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day.

Iran attacked seven commercial ships last week, killing, missing or wounding nearly a dozen crew members, the United States said late Tuesday.

The United Arab Emirates earlier said an Indian crew was killed and eight others injured when two Emirati oil tankers were hit by Iranian cruise missiles in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Revolutionary Guard said two “aggressive” supertankers were hit and disabled in the strait after ignoring repeated warnings. They were unable to identify the ships.

As tensions mount, Trump on Monday floated the idea of ​​imposing a 20 percent fee on shipping through the Bosphorus, prompting sharp criticism from the UN shipping agency and others.

He abandoned that idea on Tuesday and said he would seek investment deals with Gulf countries, without giving details.

The naval blockade of ships traveling to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas was reinstated as of 2000 GMT (1600 EDT) after being lifted in June.

Trump said the strait is open to all ship traffic except Iran. The US military said more than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft are currently operating in the region.

The conflict is unpopular in the United States, where gasoline prices are rising and congressional elections are approaching in November.

The price of benchmark Brent crude oil has risen 15% in the last seven days to $85 per barrel; This is the highest level since mid-June.

The war, which started in February with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran, killed thousands of people, especially in Iran and Lebanon, and expanded to include other Gulf countries as Iran retaliated against its neighbors.

While the global economy has weathered the energy shock largely well, the International Monetary Fund warned last month that extending the war beyond mid-July poses major risks, especially given that countries have largely depleted strategic oil reserves to cushion the impact on consumers.

Half of those polled by Reuters said they believed the war was not worth the cost.

Iran said early Tuesday that it had attacked a U.S. Army base in Jordan with ballistic missiles, while Bahrain, which hosts a U.S. naval base, said it had deflected an Iranian airstrike, and other Gulf states also came under fire.

The governorship of Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz said it was hit by a US shell around 7pm on Tuesday, Iranian state media reported.

While Washington has repeatedly claimed that Iran should never have had nuclear weapons, Tehran has denied this; Iran, on the other hand, wants sanctions to end and other nations to recognize its control over the strait.

Trump said that some countries, without naming them, told him that they wanted to invest in the United States instead of charging tolls.

It is not yet clear what the Gulf countries agreed to, and there is no mention of any specific investment commitments.