US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants in retaliation for attacks on shipping that have reignited the regional war.
Iran responded with its own threats to widen the conflict, as top negotiator Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf warned: "If our security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe."
The exchange of threats came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was willing to negotiate an end to the conflict but accused Tehran of not being serious about talks. The comments followed an 11th consecutive night of attacks across the Arabian Gulf.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said the US would continue to retaliate against Iranian attacks on commercial shipping, the focal point of renewed tensions in recent weeks.
“From this point forward, 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, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran,” Mr Trump wrote.
The US leader had earlier threatened to escalate the war with Iran by launching a “bunker-busting” attack on one of the country’s nuclear facilities. Referring to Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified underground site near one of Iran’s primary nuclear enrichment facilities, Mr Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the military would be “hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily”.
Iran’s Khatam Al Anbiya Central Headquarters, the country’s main operational command, said it would view any attacks on its nuclear sites as an expansion of the war in the region.
Despite Mr Trump saying the US was “not interested” in meeting with Iran, Mr Rubio said the Americans “remain open” to diplomacy.
“We remain open to working it out in a negotiated way,” Mr Rubio said. “But right now, they don't seem to be serious about that.”
He said the immediate priority of US policy is ensuring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important energy transit routes.
“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll, and if you don't pay them blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent, which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” said Mr Rubio.
He made his comments in a meeting with his counterparts in South-east Asian countries, many of which have territorial disputes in the South China Sea with China.
Mr Rubio's remarks also came a day after several oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea, apparently in response to threats from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
The tankers abandoned their course for the Bab Al Mandeb strait and turned towards the Suez Canal, after Yemen's Houthis, who control the coast at the mouth of the Red Sea, declared a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia, a move that could exacerbate the energy shock caused by the war.
With Iran already targeting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz leading out of the Gulf, the Red Sea has served as the main alternative route for millions of barrels per day of Saudi oil.
President Trump said Washington would respond if Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels attempt to blockade the Red Sea, playing down concerns that the group may open another front in the continuing regional conflict. “So far it hasn’t happened. It might happen, but we take care of things,” Mr Trump told reporters.
The escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia adds to rising tensions across the Middle East, which witnessed the 11th consecutive night of fighting between Tehran and Washington.
On Tuesday evening, the US military said it carried out another round of strikes against Iran. Tehran residents reported hearing explosions in the early hours of Wednesday as Iran activated its air defences over the capital, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said.
Explosions were also reported in the south-eastern coastal cities of Chabahar and Konarak, and two blasts were heard in Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant, the official Irna news agency reported. Several parts of Bushehr province were targeted in US attacks on Wednesday morning, but no casualties were reported.
In response, Iran's army said it had carried out a new wave of drone strikes targeting US military assets in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence said an alert had been issued through the National Emergency Early Warning Platform in Dammam on Wednesday to warn residents of a potential hazard. In a follow-up statement, the agency said the threat had passed and urged the public to continue following official safety instructions.
Attempts to revive diplomacy
Mediators are attempting to persuade the US and Iran to halt hostilities, proposing a 10-day truce and a return to negotiations to reach an agreement on the management of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, The National understands.
Sources said the mediators are trying to convince Washington and Tehran to clarify the “ambiguous language” in last month's agreement, which has led to differing interpretations about controlling navigation in the strait.
In another sign that diplomacy remains alive, Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has visited mediator Pakistan and asked Islamabad to continue its conciliatory efforts.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, received separate phone calls from the foreign ministers of Bahrain and Oman, his office said early on Wednesday. Doha, alongside Pakistan, played a central role in mediating between Washington and Tehran and helping to broker the interim agreement reached last month.
In separate conversations with Bahrain's Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and Oman's Badr Al Busaidi, Sheikh Mohammed stressed “the importance of all parties committing to diplomacy”, a statement from his office said.
