Iran warns of Hormuz ‘red line,’ retaliation to Trump’s strike threats
Pro-government supporters stand next to a banner depicting a portrait of the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a night rally in Tehran, Iran, on July 12, 2026.
Morteza Nikoubazl | Nurfoto | Getty Images
Iran warned on Thursday that it would “crush” key targets in the Middle East if US President Donald Trump’s threats to target the country’s infrastructure in the coming days come true.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday evening, Trump said that US forces will target Iran’s critical infrastructure next week unless diplomatic progress is made.
“Next week it’s going to be really bad for them because the power plants are coming next week,” he said. “The bridges are coming next week. We will disable all their power plants. We will destroy all their bridges unless they come to the table and negotiate.”
In a statement posted on Telegram on Thursday morning, a spokesman for Iran’s top military command said that if Trump’s threats are implemented, “everything that is still intact, that is, the entire infrastructure in the region, will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, so that there will be no trace of them left and it will be as if they never existed in the first place.”
“As a foreign and extra-regional country, we will not allow America’s intervention in the Strait of Hormuz under any circumstances and in any way,” they added.
“This is Iran’s invincible red line,” the spokesman said.
The Bosphorus, a waterway critical for the transportation of oil and other important goods in the Middle East, has become the focal point of clashes between American and Iranian forces.
Armed clashes have escalated in recent days after the United States launched an attack on Iran in retaliation for attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Tehran also launched attacks on many Gulf countries.
US Central Command carried out a new wave of attacks on Iran that ended at 9 pm ET.
“U.S. forces struck Iran’s command centers, air defense facilities, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities to further weaken Iran’s ability to threaten innocent sailors working on commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” Centcom said in a statement published on X. he said.
“CENTCOM used precision munitions to hit targets in multiple locations, including Bandar Abbas.”
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman also warned of retaliation on Wednesday.
“Our hands are not tied,” he said at an event in Tehran, according to state media. “Our fighters will respond to US attacks with full force and force, and in other articles of the agreement, wherever we have mutual commitments, we have not implemented them.”
Last week, Trump said that the ceasefire reached between the two sides last month was “over”. He told Fox Business News on Wednesday that Iranian officials want to meet with American delegates for new talks.
Renewed hostilities led to a rebound in oil prices this week
Hostilities face potential stalemate
Oil prices fell on Thursday morning Brent crude futures It is trading down 0.5% at $84.42 a barrel for September delivery as of 4:30 a.m. ET. Front month USA West Texas Intermediate crude oil Futures fell almost 0.2% to $79.47 per barrel.
Clark H. Summers, an assistant professor of government and political philosophy at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, told CNBC that he believes the current situation will likely lead to a stalemate.
“The US will continue to conduct precision air strikes to destroy” [drones] “Surface-to-surface missile launch sites and surface-to-surface missile launch sites when Iran shows up for launch,” he said. “In addition, the United States will take action to defeat air strikes launched against neutral shipping in the Persian Gulf. “I expect these actions to be very effective on a tactical level, but ineffective strategically as long as Iran continues to produce (or stockpile) drones and missiles.”
Summers added that Trump’s recent proposals to impose a 20 percent fee on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz (a proposal the president has since abandoned) strongly indicate that the Trump administration is aware that the cost of the war is undermining public support for the president.
“He has carefully considered the War Powers Act and seems well aware that current U.S. industrial and logistical capabilities cannot sustain this conflict on an open-ended basis (possibly through midterm elections and certainly by the 28th),” Summers said.
However, he stated that they could declare victory as long as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps remained in power in Iran and “could emerge from the rubble alive”.
“Only a serious ground threat would destroy the IRGC as the governing body and force it to accept surrender,” Summers told CNBC. “It is extremely unlikely that such a threat would come from conventional US forces; such an operation would be beyond the sum of the current capabilities of the US Army and USMC.”
Summers said a raid on the critical Kharg Island to tighten the blockade of Iran’s oil exports could help reach a negotiated peace deal, “but the Revolutionary Guard is unlikely to agree to any deal.”
Richard de Meo, founder and CEO of Attara, a London-based brokerage specializing in commodity hedging, told CNBC that markets are increasingly desensitized to developments in the US-Iran war.
“There is a growing sense of fatigue across the corporate sector in response to the sheer volume of geopolitical risks, with some businesses taking false comfort in relatively intermittent market conditions and overlooking the periods of sharp volatility we see, particularly in energy markets,” he said.
“Nevertheless, treasury teams continue to demonstrate strong discipline in their approach to risk management. To the extent policy flexibility allows, many are increasing hedge ratios and extending hedge maturities, taking steps to provide greater protection and flexibility against future market uncertainty.”
