President Donald Trump has issued a fresh Iran infrastructure threat, warning that US forces will target bridges and power plants across the country next week unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table. The warning landed as American and Iranian forces exchanged fire for a fourth consecutive day, deepening a conflict that shows little sign of cooling.
Speaking in an interview on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, Trump did not soften his language. “Next week it gets really bad for them,” he said. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.” He added that energy targets would be saved “for last” but confirmed they would ultimately be struck.
This is not the first time Trump has raised the prospect of hitting civilian infrastructure. He made a similar threat back in April, prompting a sharp rebuke from UN human rights chief Volker Türk, who said at the time that deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure amounts to a war crime under international law. The 1949 Geneva Conventions explicitly bar strikes on sites considered essential to civilian life.
The renewed threat follows a whirlwind 24 hours in which Trump first proposed, then scrapped, a 20% fee on all cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz. He announced instead that Gulf states would strike “massive” trade and investment deals with Washington in exchange for safe passage. Hours later, the US military launched a seven-hour wave of strikes on Iranian targets and reinstated its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
US Central Command said the strikes hit dozens of Iranian military sites near the strait, aiming to further degrade Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping. Iran’s army confirmed that at least seven military personnel were killed in a strike on a base in the southeastern city of Bampur.
Iran responded by firing missiles and drones at American positions in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, according to state broadcaster IRIB. Kuwaiti forces said they intercepted incoming attack drones, while Bahrain’s military reported successfully destroying aerial threats before impact.
Centcom also accused Iran of intentionally targeting civilians, saying strikes on seven commercial vessels left nearly a dozen crew members dead, missing or injured. The United Arab Emirates said Iranian cruise missiles struck two of its national tankers, killing one Indian crew member and wounding eight others, four critically. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps later claimed the tankers had ignored warnings and tried to pass through a mined route with navigation systems disabled.
Separately, an Indian sailor who went missing after an attack off the coast of Oman last week was confirmed dead by his family on Wednesday. The remaining 23 crew members of the Cypriot-flagged vessel were rescued after the ship was disabled.
The escalating violence has rattled oil markets, with tanker traffic through the strait slowing to a two-month low and Brent Crude prices climbing sharply. Trump has framed the renewed blockade as necessary leverage, declaring the US the “guardian” of the strait, though he later dropped the fee proposal after what he described as numerous calls from Gulf leaders.
Iran has rejected the pressure campaign outright. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Trump’s blockade decision had effectively unraveled the ceasefire framework agreed weeks earlier, and warned that further military and economic pressure would not push Tehran back to the table. “If the US thinks that by tightening its measures against us… we will return to negotiations, it is making a mistake,” he said.
The US previously imposed a similar blockade in April, redirecting around 100 commercial vessels and disabling four others over roughly five weeks before lifting it in June as part of a broader memorandum of understanding. That agreement was meant to de-escalate tensions, but disputes over control of the Strait of Hormuz have since reignited the conflict, leaving the region bracing for what Trump has promised will be an even harder week ahead.