US President Donald Trump said on Thursday it would hit Iran again later the day and threatened to seize the country’s oil infrastructure including its main export terminal Kharg Island “in the not too distant future.”
The U.S. military pounded targets in southern Iran for a second night and Trump promised in a Thursday morning social media post to continue for a third.
The US attacks, and Iran’s retaliatory strikes on nearby Gulf nations, have raised concerns throughout the region that the fighting may become impossible to contain,reported CNN.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that the US military will attack Iran 'Very Hard' Thursday night after completing a round of airstrikes on Wednesday. The president threatened to take “total control” of Iran’s oil and gas markets as the US did in Venezuela earlier this year.
Kharg Island is Iran’s main oil export terminal, accounting for about 90% of its crude shipments before the war. The U.S. Navy has already choked off most of Iran’s exports through a blockade against the country’s ports and vessels.
The US launched strikes against military targets on Kharg Island earlier in the war, but has held back from deploying ground troops to seize Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who have criticised reporters for even asking about future operations, have in recent days broadcast their military plans hours before they are executed.
Even without an attack on Kharg Island, which analysts say would almost certainly necessitate the use of ground troops, the conflict had entered into a perilous new phase, with no clear signs of whether the fighting could be contained.
The US military also sought to raise pressure on Iran at sea, striking three oil tankers this week in the Gulf of Oman for “attempting to transport Iranian oil,” U.S. Central Command said.
The Indian government announced that three Indian crew members had died in one of the US strikes on Wednesday, the first seafarers known to have been killed in the US military effort to enforce a blockade to starve Iran of oil revenue.
The latest American attack in Iran began shortly before 1 am local time on Thursday and lasted about four hours, according to Central Command. Explosions were heard in Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the southern cities of Bandar Abbas, Minab and Sirik, Iranian news outlets reported.
Trump and Hegseth said that their escalation was not retaliation for a particular Iranian military action but was instead meant to pressure Tehran to agree to peace on Trump’s terms.
Shortly after making those threats, Trump told Fox News that he is not sure “America has the stomach” to take Kharg. The US is continuing to hold talks with Iran, the president said.
“I think they’d like to see us come home, but we did it with Venezuela,” Trump told Fox in a live phone call. “Venezuela’s worked out great for everybody.”
The president said he would prefer not to bomb Iran’s power plants when asked by Fox. Trump made such threats earlier in the war.
Reacting to Trump's threats, a top Iranian official has warned that the country will deliver a 'firm, crushing, painful, and regret-inducing response' if the US attacks Kharg Island.
Describing Trump as “confused and erratic,” Ebrahim Azizi, who is the head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said there was no doubt Iran would deliver a severe response to any such attempt to seize the island, reported CNN.
Iran and all its territory, including Kharg Island, are “fully prepared,” Azizi said in comments to Iranian newspaper Hamshahri on Thursday.
A senior Iranian official has warned the US against being sucked into an "endless quagmire".
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, said in a post on X that "wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board for the worse".
He says these decisions could "explode energy infrastructure and markets", creating an "endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years".
"You will see a different Iran," he concludes.
Meanwhile, Iran has made it clear that it will treat all of Elon Musk’s companies in the Middle East, reported CNBC.
All his companies, including SpaceX’s Starlink internet service, will be legitimate military targets, said Iranian state media outlet Fars citing senior IRGC personnel.
Iran is targeting “all interests related to economic holdings managed by Elon Musk in West Asia,” including a regional Starlink ground station, according to a translated post on Fars’ Telegram page.
Starlink has played a key role in US military operations against Iran, supporting high-tech ordnance ranging from aerial attack drones to unmanned surveillance and strike vessels.
Iran asserts the US has committed war crimes against it with the support of Musk-related companies, Fars reported, citing an “informed source.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to attack all facilities related to [Musk]-managed holdings in the region and occupied territories,” that source said.
Trump has escalated military pressure on Iran this week as he has grown frustrated with Tehran for not quickly agreeing to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and abandon its nuclear program, reported CNBC.
The latest round of escalation this week began when Trump held Iran responsible for shooting down a US Apache helicopter in Hormuz.
"We dropped $250 million worth of bombs on them last night," Trump told Fox. "You know, the whole thing is crazy, but they’re really in submission. They just don’t know it yet."
Iran so far has refused to meet Trump’s demands. Tehran has claimed control over the Strait of Hormuz, the key sea lane through which Middle East exporters shipped 20% of the world’s oil supplies before the war.
