Arya News - Iranian official says Tehran would retaliate by targeting ‘energy facilities in which the United States has interests’.
President Donald Trump has warned that the United States military will target Iran’s civilian infrastructure each time Tehran’s forces fire at a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz .
If the warning, issued on Wednesday, materialises, it would represent a major escalation in the conflict, which is already spiralling across the region.
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“Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump has previously said the US would bomb Iran’s bridges and power stations, going as far as threatening to wipe out the country’s civilisation , but Wednesday’s statement is more specific than his previous threats.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency cited an Iranian military source as saying that Tehran will retaliate in kind if the country’s infrastructure is attacked.
“If the Americans target a bridge or power plant in Iran, Iran will reciprocate by hitting infrastructures and bridges in the region, including energy facilities in which the United States has interests,” the source said, according to Tasnim.
The official added that passage through Hormuz is safe for ships, but it must be coordinated with Iran.
The US and Iran have been exchanging attacks for the past 12 days as the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was supposed to end the war between the two sides got derailed over the fate of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has claimed sovereignty over the strategic waterway, arguing that the MoU gives Iran the authority to manage the strait. The Trump administration, however, has insisted that the Hormuz must return to its pre-war status as an international, free passageway.
The hostilities restarted after ships that crossed the strait on the Omani side without coordinating with Iran were targeted.
The US military has been striking military targets in Iran as well as civilian ports and bridges, killing dozens. Tehran has retaliated with barrages of missiles and rockets on bases housing US troops across the region.
Iranian attacks have killed at least four service members in Jordan and Iraq this month and injured several others. Late on Tuesday, the Pentagon identified 28-year-old Angel Rampersad as the third fatality of an Iranian missile strike in Jordan. Rampersad was missing in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
Trump is set to attend the arrival of the bodies of the service members in the US – known as dignified transfer – at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday.
He said Iran will “pay a big price” for killing US troops. “They’re getting decimated,” Trump said as he departed for the airbase.
Renewing the war has sent oil prices soaring once again after a brief reprieve during the ceasefire. The average price of one gallon (3.4 litres) of petrol in the US has surpassed $4 after dropping to around $3.80 from a high of $4.50 during the truce.