Trump Threatens to Expand Strikes on Iran, Including Energy and Infrastructure, if Negotiations Are Refused
US President Donald Trump has stated that attacks on Iran will continue and intensify in the coming days if Tehran does not return to the negotiating table. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump said US forces would keep striking various targets in Iran until he decides to stop. “We are hitting them very hard. We are hitting every target they have along the coast… The attacks will continue until I say enough is enough,” Trump said. He indicated that energy sector targets were not yet a priority but would eventually be struck. “I am saving the energy targets for last, but we will hit energy facilities eventually,” he stated. Trump also threatened to escalate the intensity of the attacks starting next week by targeting power plants and bridges in Iran if Tehran continues to refuse negotiations. “Tonight we will hit them very hard. Tomorrow night as well. The night after that too. Next week it will get much worse for them because we will hit their power plants and bridges unless they come back to the negotiating table,” he said. Trump expressed confidence that Iran has no choice but to reach a deal with the United States, adding that officials from both countries were still communicating up until about an hour before the interview. “They want to make a deal… They better do it. If not, there will be nothing left,” Trump said. Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said the United States wants the shipping lane to remain open for international traffic. “I wanted to charge a fee, but they [the Gulf states] prefer to spend more money in the United States. I think that is better because I do not like the idea of charging a fee. The strait must remain free,” he said. Trump stressed that military pressure is the only way to bring Iran to the negotiating table. “The only way to negotiate with them is through strength, and the only strength is military strength. That is what we are doing,” he said. He added that the two sides were close to reaching an agreement two days earlier, but Iran backed out at the last moment. Trump’s remarks came after US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that American forces had launched further strikes against Iran to weaken Tehran’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM subsequently stated that the United States had reimposed a naval blockade on Iran, deploying more than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft to the Middle East region. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have escalated in recent days amid ongoing exchanges of fire, despite a previously agreed memorandum of understanding mediated by Pakistan to end the conflict. Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Tuesday to have destroyed a number of US weapons and drones in attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait.