Amid a dramatic escalation of hostilities in West Asia, US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran’s power plants and bridges will be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table.
Trump said US forces would intensify their military campaign in the coming days, warning that Iran would not "have anybody left" if it refused to strike a deal with Washington.
"We're going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. We're going to hit them very hard the night after," Trump told Fox News.
"Next week, it gets really bad for them, because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges. 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 said.
Trump's remarks came as the US military carried out strikes on Iran for a fourth consecutive day following the collapse of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries that had sought to end hostilities in West Asia.
The Trump administration has maintained that negotiations cannot move forward while Iran continues to disrupt maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The US strikes and Iran’s retaliatory attacks on American military bases in Gulf countries have raised fears of a wider regional conflict, threatening to push West Asia back into all-out war.
Meanwhile, the US military reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports early Wednesday in response to Tehran's attacks on vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
The US first imposed the blockade in mid-April before lifting it in mid-June, a day after the two sides signed an interim agreement that established a 60-day window for negotiations on issues including Iran's nuclear programme. However, the talks have since stalled as fighting around the strait has intensified.
While announcing the renewed blockade on Monday, Trump initially said his administration would impose a 20 per cent fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. However, he abandoned the proposal just hours before reinstating the blockade, citing requests from US allies in the Persian Gulf.
