Iran war live: Trump warns assault on infrastructure ‘hasn’t even started’

Iran war: Trump threatens massive infrastructure strikes

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

US President Donald Trump warned that American attacks on Iran’s infrastructure “haven’t even started” during a press conference at the White House on Thursday.

The president spoke hours after US warplanes hit oil refineries, power stations and military bases across Iran in what defense officials described as the opening phase of a broader campaign.

Trump’s comments signal a dramatic escalation after weeks of limited exchanges that began when Iran-backed militias killed 3 US soldiers at a base in Jordan on January 28. The crisis has spiraled into direct confrontation since US strikes killed 17 Iranian military personnel in Syria on February 14.

“We’re going to destroy their ability to function as a modern state,” Trump told reporters. “What you’ve seen so far is nothing.”

The overnight strikes disabled the 400,000 barrel-per-day Isfahan refinery and knocked out power to parts of Tehran, according to satellite imagery reviewed by GlobalBeat. State media reported 23 civilians killed and 87 wounded, while claiming most cruise missiles were shot down.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation used 156 Tomahawk missiles launched from destroyers in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. B-1 bombers flying from Qatar dropped 92 precision-guided bombs on 14 targets, he told reporters at the Pentagon.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the attacks “a declaration of war” and vowed retaliation. “The resistance front will respond at a time and place of our choosing,” he wrote on social media.

Russia and China demanded an emergency UN Security Council meeting scheduled for Friday. Moscow’s ambassador Vasily Nebenzya accused Washington of “pushing the Middle East toward catastrophe.”

Oil prices surged 8 percent to $91 per barrel after the attacks, their highest level since October. The Strait of Hormuz remains open but insurance rates for tankers transiting the waterway tripled overnight, shipping sources told GlobalBeat.

European diplomats expressed alarm at Trump’s rhetoric. “The president is talking about destroying a country of 87 million people,” said one senior EU official who requested anonymity. “This goes far beyond self-defense.”

Saudi Arabia and the UAE urged restraint while quietly allowing US forces to use bases on their territory. Both Gulf states fear Iranian missile attacks on their oil facilities like the 2019 strike on Abqaiq that briefly halved their production.

Israeli officials welcomed the strikes but denied involvement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a one-sentence statement saying “Iran’s aggression has finally met a response.”

Tehran’s proxies across the region prepared for war. Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon moved mobile missile launchers to the Israeli border, according to Israeli military sources. Yemen’s Houthi rebels warned they would target Red Sea shipping more aggressively.

The Pentagon ordered another 2,000 troops to the region, bringing US force levels to 65,000. Most will man Patriot batteries in Kuwait and Bahrain, officials said. The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower extended its deployment in the Gulf indefinitely.

Background

The current crisis traces back to Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal that had limited Tehran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief. After leaving the agreement, Washington imposed crushing economic sanctions that cut Iranian oil exports from 2.5 million to under 500,000 barrels daily.

Tensions escalated through 2019-2020 with attacks on tankers, the US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, and Iran’s missile attack on US troops in Iraq. Both sides stepped back from full war then but continued proxy conflicts across the region.

The October 2023 Israel-Hamas war reignited the long-simmering conflict. Iran armed and trained Hamas fighters while its other proxies — Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Iraq and Syria, and Houthis in Yemen — opened multiple fronts against Israel and US forces. American troops came under fire more than 160 times before the Jordan attack killed US soldiers.

What’s Next

Iranian retaliation could come within days through its regional network. US intelligence believes the most likely scenarios include missile attacks on American bases in Qatar or Kuwait, mining the Strait of Hormuz, or a repeat of the 2019 Abqaiq-style strike on Gulf oil infrastructure. The White House has warned any Iranian response would trigger strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.