Trump Says Bridges and Power Plants Will Be Targeted if Iran Attacks Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as Military Operations Enter Their 11th Consecutive Day
President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Iran’s regime that the United States would target the country's infrastructure whenever Tehran launches an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, as military operations entered their 11th consecutive day.
In a Truth Social post on July 22, Trump said potential targets could include bridges and power plants, including facilities located in or near the Iranian capital of Tehran.
“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,” Trump wrote.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Tuesday evening that it had carried out an 11th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, saying the operations were intended to “further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”
According to CENTCOM, the strikes targeted military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure inside Iran.
In response, Iran’s military has launched attacks on neighboring countries in the Middle East that host U.S. military assets and bases. The latest wave of attacks followed Tehran’s strikes on multiple ships in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month.
Speaking at the Oval Office on July 21, Trump indicated that negotiations between Washington and Tehran are unlikely to resume in the near future, stating that his administration has “no interest in meeting.”
He also said Iranian officials “want to desperately meet” with their U.S. counterparts.
Although he acknowledged that backchannel communication continues, Trump said, “Until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting.”
“They're getting decimated,” the president added.
During the same White House event, Trump said the U.S. military would soon carry out a major strike against an Iranian nuclear facility known as Pickaxe Mountain.
Since the conflict began, Trump has repeatedly said Iran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. He also stated that Tehran should either dilute its enriched uranium or transfer it to the United States.
“We’ll be hitting that area very probably pretty soon,” Trump said. “There’s not a thing they can do about it. You know, normally I wouldn’t say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that.”
On July 22, Iran’s military headquarters said through the semi-official IRNA news agency that any attack on the country’s nuclear or other “sensitive facilities,” including Pickaxe Mountain, would represent an “expansion of the war” in the Middle East.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also warned Asian leaders on Wednesday that Iran’s demand to collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz would pose a serious threat to the global economy.
“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,” Rubio said.
On July 21, the U.S. military said the Strait of Hormuz remains open despite Iranian claims to the contrary. It added that approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of oil have transited the strategic waterway since May.
