US, Iran exchange strikes as Trump mulls wider offensive

WASHINGTON – The US and Iran exchanged limited strikes with the latest round of hostilities passing the two week mark, after US President Donald Trump warned of a potential “massive attack” to try and force through a peace deal.

US Central Command said it launched a 13th consecutive night of strikes intended to degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the focal point in the breakdown of negotiations between the sides. Iran has continued to target US bases in the region, including in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Trump said in an interview on July 23 that he was “close to making a decision” on attacks that would be “bigger than ever before”. Iran is not ready to make a deal and “they haven’t received enough pain yet,” Trump was reported as saying.

It is not clear whether such deliberations are being made alongside Israel, which joined the US in attacking Iran at the start of the war in late February. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Trump in Washington on July 28, his office said in a statement.

Trump’s remarks underscore the bind he finds himself in after renewed fighting caused an interim peace deal to collapse and all but closed the Strait of Hormuz. In a Truth Social post on July 23, Trump threatened “major military punishment” on Iran and the Houthi militant group if they target commercial ships.

In another social media post on July 24, Trump warned Russia and China that if they sell arms to Iran “it would be very bad for them”. Yet he said, in his view, those two countries are “not participating” in the war. US and Western intelligence reports have said the countries have provided targeting information and components to Tehran, according to media reports, claims that Beijing and Moscow deny.

The Yemen-based Houthis claimed strikes on Saudi oil tankers this week, opening a new front in a conflict that has driven oil prices above US$100 a barrel and US retail gasoline prices over US$4 a gallon. Brent crude declined on July 24, but is on track for a weekly gain of about 10 per cent as the conflict simmers.

Trump also warned “that from this point forth, any and all damages done to ships, cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls.”

The US has about US$2 billion of blocked Iranian funds inside its borders. A much larger portion is in other countries and is prevented from being transferred by US sanctions - estimates vary from US$24 billion to more than US$100 billion. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that “seizing another nation’s assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent.”

The war has entered a new phase of escalation after last month’s truce collapsed. The fighting remains less intense than at its peak, but Iran has threatened to target regional infrastructure, including energy sites, if Trump carries out his threat to destroy one bridge or power plant each time Tehran attacks shipping in Hormuz. Traffic through the strait, which before the war carried about one-fifth of global energy supplies, has slowed to a trickle.

The Houthis’ actions this week threaten another maritime chokepoint, with some vessels already avoiding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Still, two China-owned oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude have exited the Red Sea via the strait.

Trump last month cited the risk of a global economic crash as a key reason for him agreeing to a truce. He faces growing political pressure before November’s midterm elections, with Republicans struggling to retain control of Congress. Polls show the war is not popular. The House of Representatives on July 23 passed its second resolution calling on Trump to stop the war, although the measure is largely symbolic.

US air strikes on Iran have killed 59 people and injured 666 others since June 27, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing the head of the Health Ministry’s information center.

The Houthis, part of Tehran’s so-called Axis of Resistance, control much of northern Yemen, including Sanaa and the Red Sea port of Hodeida. They have repeatedly disrupted Red Sea shipping since 2023 with drone and missile attacks launched after Israel’s war against Hamas began in Gaza. Trump ordered airstrikes against the group last year before ending the campaign after a partial truce. BLOOMBERG