Trump warns Iran to strike a deal 'before it is too late' as war deepens

President Donald Trump issued fresh threats on Iranian infrastructure in a bid to pressure Tehran in negotiations, a day after his pledge to continue the war sparked global market and economic turmoil. 

“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow!” Trump posted to social media, accompanied by a video. “IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!”

 

Earlier Thursday, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that airstrikes had hit numerous targets, including a bridge connecting Tehran to the city of Karaj.

 

 

Trump’s comments and the continued strikes on Iran complicated efforts by the US and partners to broker a deal with the Islamic Republic, including to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, as the war approaches the five-week mark.

 

US crude soared more than 13 per cent to trade above $110 on Thursday on expectations that American crude exports will hit new record highs in coming months. Brent crude jumped too, trading near $107 a barrel, as Trump’s comments dashed hopes of a quick end to the war.

 

Europe’s diesel futures rose to more than $200 a barrel earlier, the highest level since 2022, amid wartime fuel shortages.

 

The president has oscillated between casting diplomatic efforts as productive, and threatening further destruction — including on civilian and energy infrastructure. Earlier this week, he threatened to target Iran’s energy facilities and water desalination plants if the strait stays shut — a move that could constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

 

In a primetime address Wednesday, Trump pledged to keep up the conflict for two to three weeks longer and “to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants” if Tehran doesn’t agree to US demands. 

 

He reported no progress on efforts to reopen the vital waterway, with European and Gulf countries initiating their own efforts to do so. 

 

The United Nations Security Council will likely vote Friday on a resolution that would support measures to reopen Hormuz, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said. The United Arab Emirates is appealing to the UN to authorize a range of measures, including force, to get oil and gas flowing through the strait again, with fears growing of a global supply crisis.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said Trump’s demands for help reopening the vital waterway through military means are “unrealistic” and called for consultation with Iran. Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said he urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to restore freedom of navigation in the strait, in a phone call one day after speaking with Trump on Iran.

 

There are few signs that Iran is willing to budge on Hormuz, which has remained effectively shut since the start of the war. The Islamic Republic is drafting protocol with Oman to monitor traffic through the strait, state-run IRNA reported. That would require shippers to pay tolls to Iran, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in an interview with Sputnik.

 

The passage is officially international waters and any attempt by Iran to assert control over traffic would be opposed by Western powers and Gulf Arab states.

  

The Islamic Republic continued attacks across the Persian Gulf and showed little appetite to start talks, let alone concede defeat. The foreign ministry said Iran had received US messages through intermediaries including Pakistan, but that American demands were “maximalist and illogical.”

 

Iranian missile and drone attacks were reported by Gulf Arab states overnight and into Thursday. The US embassy in Baghdad warned that Iraqi militias may carry out attacks on central parts of the city in the next two days, including against American citizens.

 

Israel on Wednesday night experienced one of the biggest barrages of Iranian missiles of the war. 

 

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for freedom of navigation and the protection of civilians and infrastructure, including nuclear installations. He told reporters on Thursday that he’s dispatching an envoy to seek peace, urging the US and Israel to end the conflict and for Iran to stop attacking neighbors.

 

Ahead of Trump’s address, Pezeshkian took the unusual step of posting a letter to Americans on social media. He argued Iran had no enmity with the US and warned that “continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before.” 

 

Trump, while insisting the energy shock will ease, did not lay out a plan for how the US would convince Iran to let traffic resume through the strait. He exhorted allies who rely on Middle Eastern oil supplies to “take care of that passage,” calling on them to “grab it and cherish it.”

 

The UK chaired a virtual meeting on Thursday with foreign ministers from around 35 countries to discuss a plan to restore freedom of navigation in the strait, with the US absent.

 

A prolonged conflict carries political risks for Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm election. Gas prices are above $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022. Polls show significant numbers of Americans disapprove of military operations against Iran.

 

More than 5,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, almost three-quarters of them in Iran, according to government organizations and the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Just over 1,300 people have been killed in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting a parallel war with Iran-allied Hezbollah.