Government supporters stand next to a banner displaying a portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a night rally in Tehran, Iran, on July 12, 2026.
Morteza Nicoubazl | Nurphoto Getty Images
Iran warned on Thursday that it will “crush” key targets in the Middle East if US President Donald Trump’s threats to target the country’s infrastructure come true in the coming days.
Trump said in an interview on Tuesday evening with Fox News that the US military will target critical infrastructure in Iran next week if success is not achieved.
“Next week it will be worse because next week the power plants will come,” he said. “Next week the bridges are coming. We will knock down all their power plants. We will knock down all their bridges unless they come to the table and negotiate.”
In a statement published on Telegram on Thursday morning, a spokesman for Iran’s top military commander said that if Trump’s threats are carried out “everything that still exists … that is, all the infrastructure in the region – will be crushed by the iron blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran; so that no trace of them remains and it will be as if they never existed in the first place.”
They added that “regardless of the circumstances, we will not allow America, as a foreign country, to interfere with the Strait of Hormuz.”
“This is Iran’s unconquerable red line,” the spokesman said.
The Strait, a waterway in the Middle East that is crucial for the transportation of oil and other important goods, has become a battleground between the American and Iranian forces.
The armed conflict has escalated in recent days after the US launched strikes against Iran earlier this week in retaliation for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran, on the other hand, has launched attacks on many Gulf countries.
US Central Command launched a new wave of attacks on Iran overnight that ended at 9 pm ET.
“The US military has attacked Iranian command centers, air defense facilities, missile and drone capabilities, and coast guard facilities to enhance Iran’s ability to threaten innocent sailors operating commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz,” Centcom said in a statement posted on X.
“CENTCOM used precision weapons to strike targets in multiple areas including Bandar Abbas.”
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry also warned of retaliation on Wednesday.
“Our hands are not tied,” he said at an event in Tehran, according to state-affiliated media. “Our fighters will respond with the full force and power of US violence, and in other sections of the memorandum, wherever we had mutual commitments, we have not used them.”
Last week, Trump said the ceasefire agreed between the two sides last month was “over.” On Wednesday, he told Fox Business News that Iranian officials want to meet with American envoys for new talks.
Renewed conflicts have caused oil prices to fall this week
Enemies face potential challenges
Oil prices fell on Thursday morning, with Brent crude futures September delivery 0.5% traded at $84.42 per barrel at 4:30 am ET. The first month of the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down about 0.2% at $79.47 a barrel.
Clark H. Summers, an associate professor of government and political philosophy at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, told CNBC that he believes the current situation will lead to a freeze.
“The US will continue to carry out direct air strikes to destroy it [drones] and underground missile launch sites as Iran will appear to launch,” he said in an email. “Also, the US will act to defeat airstrikes launched against neutral shipping in the Persian Gulf. I expect these actions … to be very effective at the tactical level, but not effective as long as Iran can continue to produce drones and missiles (or maintain them).
Summers added that Trump’s recent proposals to pay 20% for shipping in the Strait of Hormuz – something the president has backed away from – strongly suggests that the Trump administration knows that the cost of the war is undermining the president’s public support.
“He has trodden carefully on the War Powers Act, and seems well aware that the current capabilities of US industry and resources cannot support this conflict openly (probably not in the midterms, and certainly not in ’28,” Summers said.
However, he noted that as long as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is still in power in Iran and “can make it out alive,” they will be able to succeed.
“Only a major threat will destroy the IRGC as a governing body and force it to accept surrender,” Summers told CNBC. “Such a threat is extremely unlikely to come from US regular forces; such an operation is beyond the current capabilities of the US Army and USMC combined.”
An attack on the sensitive island of Kharg to enforce an embargo on Iranian oil exports could help reach a negotiated peace deal, Summers said, “but it’s unlikely the IRGC will honor any deal.”
Richard de Meo, founder and CEO of Attara, a London-based brokerage firm that specializes in hedging, told CNBC that the markets have become sensitive to the development of the US-Iran war.
“Across the corporate sector, there is a growing sense of fatigue due to the number of risks in the world, as some businesses find false comfort in market conditions that depend on diversity and look at the sharp volatility we have seen, especially in the energy markets,” he said.
“Nevertheless, treasury teams continue to show strong discipline in their approach to risk management. When policy flexibility allows, many increase hedge ratios and extend hedge tenors, taking steps to secure greater protection and resilience against future market uncertainty.”
