Escalation in hostilities: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted US bases in the region overnight for a second consecutive day, following US strikes across Iran. In response to the strikes, Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed — a claim the US military rejected. A senior Iranian official told CNN in Tehran that Iran would “respond more severely” to any future attacks.
Talks under pressure: A Qatari delegation left Tehran after negotiations with Iranian officials, a diplomatic source said. The talks, conducted in coordination with the US, lasted into the early hours of Thursday morning local time, as the US was striking Iran.
Tensions between the US and Iran remain high after President Donald Trump threatened to take Iran’s key oil export hub of Kharg Island.
Trump also said the US will strike Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT.” The latest threats are putting pressure on already fragile negotiations to end the war.
A top Iranian official has warned that Iran will deliver a “firm, crushing, painful, and regret-inducing response” if the US attacks Kharg Island.
Iran says it’s ready for escalations: Iran and all its territory, including Kharg Island, are “fully prepared,” Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said in comments to Iranian newspaper Hamshahri.
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader told CNN in Tehran that Iran would “respond more severely and more heavily” to any future US attacks, adding that the fate of the war depends on Washington’s actions.
On Kharg Island threats: Plans for the US military to try to capture the island have been drawn up for months but continuously shelved because the operation was considered too risky, sources said. Earlier this year, CNN reported that Iran has laid traps and moved additional military personnel and air defenses to Kharg.
US war fatigue: Trump conceded that he was not sure Americans had “the appetite” for a major military operation that would be required to take Kharg Island, as he’s mused about escalating military operations in Iran.
Strait of Hormuz tensions: The oil trade chokepoint, which has been almost entirely shut since the war began, will be “closed to all vessels,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said. US Central Command pushed back on the Iranian claim, saying that commercial ships continue to transit in and out of the strait — which the IRGC denied.
Inside the White House: Trump grew furious this week after ordering new strikes on Iran, believing that US military action was not being viewed as powerful enough, according to sources. After gauging the response, Trump ordered a second round on Wednesday, the sources said, hoping to jolt Iranian leaders into accepting a deal to end hostilities.