Trump Renews His Threats to Target Civilian Infrastructure
As the U.S. resumed intensive bombing, President Trump resumed his bellicose rhetoric from the war’s early days. He threatened to take out Iranian bridges and power plants, which could be considered a war crime.
-Eric SchmittMax Bearak and Ishani Desai-
President Trump on Tuesday reassumed a belligerent posture toward Iran that echoed his stance at the war’s outset, threatening to destroy civilian infrastructure and refusing to rule out a ground invasion.
In the latest sign that the two sides were resuming full-scale war, Mr. Trump told Fox News that the U.S. military would continue to strike “very hard” until Iran agreed to negotiate, while insisting, “We are being very careful with the civilian population.”
Mr. Trump’s comments came hours after he walked back a plan he had announced on Monday to charge fees on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in return for providing security — a practice his aides had previously rejected when Iran was demanding such fees — but pushed ahead with a naval blockade of Iranian ports that the U.S. military said began at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
U.S. forces carried out a new round of attacks on Iran throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday that the military’s Central Command said lasted seven hours, in another indication of a return to the intensive bombing that characterized the start of the war more than four months ago.
Mr. Trump’s path out of the conflict remained unclear. In the Fox News interview, Mr. Trump suggested that the U.S. military would strike targets including bridges and power plants. Such attacks could be considered a war crime under international law. The threats recalled comments he made in April when he threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.”
He also renewed the possibility of deploying ground troops, saying that “sometimes you need a ground campaign,” but that “you have other people that would do the ground campaign for us.”
With the preliminary U.S.-Iran cease-fire effectively abandoned, sea and air traffic to the region have been severely curtailed, threatening more disruptions to the global economy. Oil prices experienced one of the biggest daily jumps since the start of the war, and the number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz plummeted.
Iranian state media said American forces had fired on Qeshm Island, which has strategic military installations, and on a barracks housing Iranian soldiers in Sistan-Baluchestan Province. A local rights organization reported that at least two soldiers had been killed and 50 injured in the attack on the barracks. The U.S. military did not comment on the reports, nor did it specify its targets.
The Iranian military said it had launched strikes at U.S. military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. Officials from all three countries said the attacks were being intercepted.
Here’s what else to know:
- Oil prices:The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, fell back after Mr. Trump dropped his plan to impose a hefty fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier on Tuesday, the price had risen above $86 a barrel for the first time in a month. Read more ›
- Iranian cyberattacks: Iran’s cyberwarfare capabilities have become more sophisticated, researchers said. Data released on Tuesday indicated that the country exploited outdated networks to track the cellphones of U.S. military personnel at the start of the war. Read more ›
- European airlines:The European Union’s aviation safety regulator warned airlines to stop operating in the region, saying the increased military attacks posed a “high risk to civil flights.” The agency said that airlines should avoid the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and part of the Gulf of Oman.
Jordan’s military intercepted three Iranian missiles, according to a statement carried by the official Petra news agency. The Kuwait Army said earlier that its air defenses were intercepting hostile targets, while Bahrain’s interior ministry said warning sirens had been activated. None of the countries have reported damage or casualties from strikes on Wednesday.