President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that the United States will strike an Iranian bridge or power plant each time Iran fires on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Washington Post. Trump said on social media that any Iranian missile, rocket, drone, or other weapon fired at a ship would prompt the United States to “bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT.”
The warning followed an eleventh consecutive night of U.S. airstrikes on Iran, whose air defenses opened fire over Tehran. Iran also launched a missile and drone attack on the Jordanian city of Aqaba, within sight of Israel’s border city of Eilat, while air raid alerts sounded in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Jordan’s military intercepted four Iranian missiles and four Iranian drones over Aqaba, with two additional missiles landing in uninhabited areas. The strike on Aqaba underscored Jordan’s position as a frontline buffer state absorbing attacks aimed near Israel, and it raised concerns about a wider regional escalation after an earlier ceasefire agreement collapsed.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas normally passes, remains largely closed because of Iranian attacks. That disruption has fed directly into global energy markets: benchmark Brent crude rose to around $94 a barrel, and U.S. gasoline prices have climbed again ahead of the fall midterm elections.
Iran’s Health Ministry said U.S. strikes over the past eleven days have killed 53 people, including six women and three children, and wounded nearly 600. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said its retaliatory attacks would continue.
At a regional summit in the Philippines, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said allowing a single nation to control an international waterway and charge a toll would set a dangerous precedent for other regions. The United States has responded to Iran’s strait attacks by reimposing a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Trump also signaled Tuesday that U.S. forces could soon strike Pickaxe Mountain, an underground Iranian nuclear site near Natanz left untouched during the twelve-day 2025 war between Iran and Israel. Iran has continued excavation work at the site while insisting its nuclear program remains peaceful.
