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US President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to bomb one Iranian bridge or power plant in return for each attack on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, reiterating his longstanding threat to go after Iranian infrastructure as fighting has escalated in recent weeks and could reportedly further intensify in the coming days.
Disputes over management of the strait led to the collapse of a preliminary deal between the United States and Iran, and both sides have exchanged daily fire across the Middle East and threatened to escalate the conflict even further.
According to a Wednesday report in Hebrew media, the US informed Israel that it will soon deploy heavy bombers for strikes on Iran, presumably targeting fortified nuclear sites, in what would be a major escalation.
“Any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trump wrote on social media.
In response to Trump’s threat to Iran’s infrastructure, an Iranian military source cited by Tasnim news agency said Tehran would retaliate against infrastructure in the region.
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf expanded on the threats, saying no one will be able to sell oil in a region where Iran is not able to do so, and adding that if Tehran’s security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe.
“The equation of this war is clear: either all or none,” Ghalibaf said in a post on X.
“Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.
In addition, Iran’s state broadcaster quoted the military as saying that US threats “will have no result other than the expansion of the war.”
Iran on Wednesday fired missiles and drones at several Arab regional countries, including at Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba, the interceptions of which could be heard in Israel’s southern city of Eilat.
Missile alerts also sounded in Kuwait and Bahrain. The Iranian military said it targeted US assets in both small Gulf countries, including air defense systems, radar installations and administrative buildings.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia warned residents of the Gulf city of Dammam to seek shelter. Saudi authorities later said the danger had passed, without elaborating.
On Wednesday afternoon, a US missile hit Larak island in the strait, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported, saying the extent of the damage was being investigated.
The US military said earlier Wednesday that it had completed an 11th night of strikes on Iran, with targets including aircraft hangars and drone storage sites.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported explosions across several provinces. Iran’s Health Ministry says US strikes over the past 11 days have killed 53 people, including six women and three children, and wounded nearly 600 people.
Trump had said earlier that the next US target could be an underground complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, or Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La in Persian, a site in the Natanz area where Western intelligence agencies suspect Iran is building an undeclared nuclear enrichment facility.
Iran threatened reprisals, with the Khatam Al-Anbiya military command saying it would “consider it as an expansion of war” if such an attack were carried out, threatening strikes on “all the interests of America, the allies and supporters,” the state broadcaster reported. However, it again denied the existence of any secret nuclear complex at the site, calling it a “fabricated pretext for aggression.”
Report: US told Israel it plans to escalate with heavy bombers
Meanwhile, the Kan public broadcaster reported Wednesday that the US has informed Israel that it plans to escalate its strikes on Iran in the coming days, including the use of heavy bombers for the first time since this year’s joint US-Israeli campaign.
According to the report, the bombers are expected to target Pickaxe Mountain, based on repeated threats by Trump over the past week that the area would be hit “pretty soon.”
The close security coordination between Jerusalem and Washington is reportedly intended to allow Israel to prepare for the possibility that Iran could respond to the intensified US strikes by escalating its own attacks, including launching missiles at Israel.
Israel is at its peak level of readiness tonight following the US update, Kan reported.
Additionally, the Axios news site reported that the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency traveled to Washington two weeks ago to discuss the Iran war, in his first visit to the US capital since taking office. The report cited two unidentified sources with knowledge of the situation.
Roman Gofman met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and White House officials, the report said.
Channel 14 news — an Israeli right-wing TV station which has repeatedly been accused of violating IDF censor rules — reported that a “very important Israeli delegation” visited the US two weeks ago in an attempt to convince Trump to bomb Pickaxe Mountain.
The report did not cite any specific sources.
The post Trump escalates threats to Iran’s infrastructure, as US said readying to use heavy bombers appeared first on The Times of Israel.
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