Washington, July 22 (dpa/GNA) – President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, that the United States would “bomb and destroy” an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Tehran attacks a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said the targets could include bridges and power plants in or near Tehran. A ceasefire between Iran and the US agreed in mid-June, has all but collapsed, with fighting erupting this month over the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments that remains effectively closed.
The US has been launching daytime and night time strikes on targets in Iran, while Tehran has fired at US allies and military assets across the region.
Last week, the US military attacked several bridges and an airport in Iran, according to media reports, although Washington has not officially confirmed the strikes. The attacks on bridges were intended to cut off supply routes to an Iranian naval base in the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a US official.
Iran once again launched retaliatory strikes against targets in the Gulf states allied with the US, including Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.
On Wednesday, Jordan’s military said six more Iranian missiles entered the country’s airspace, with air defences intercepting four of them, according to state news agency Petra. So far, the kingdom has been targeted less frequently than other US-allied Gulf states during the conflict.
Iran’s UN ambassador had stated that the US attacks on civilian infrastructure, constituted war crimes. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed concern, via a spokesman, about attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and across the region.
Trump had recently stepped up his rhetoric towards Tehran amid the deadlocked conflict with Iran. On Tuesday, he once again threatened US strikes on the area surrounding the Iranian nuclear facility known as Pickaxe Mountain. During a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House, he said, “We’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily.” The complex is located inside a mountain called Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La. It is located south of Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility.
Little is publicly known about the purpose of the underground site. Construction began after a fire and explosion in July 2020 severely damaged an above-ground assembly hall for advanced centrifuges at the Natanz complex. Iran described the incident at the time as an act of sabotage, and has denied carrying out nuclear activities at the fortified underground site.
On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, wrote on X that “US reports about nuclear activity at the site in central Iran are “nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage.”
GNA