US president Donald Trump said renewed attacks on Iran would likely be short-lived and repeated his claim that the US controls the Strait of Hormuz.
Asked on Wednesday how long the bombing campaign could last, Trump told reporters: “I don’t think too long.”
His comment came after fresh fighting spiked energy prices and rekindled fears of an open-ended war.
The US military carried out a second round of strikes in three days overnight, targeting radar systems and mine-laying capabilities along Iran’s southern coast.
Iran retaliated with drone and missile volleys on US bases across the Middle East, in line with a pattern used throughout the six-month war.
“We took out all of the new equipment that they tried to build along the Strait of Hormuz – some defensive, some offensive,” Trump said. “It was a very heavy attack last night, and we’re prepared to do another one any time we want.”
Brent crude dropped 0.3 per cent to $95.30 a barrel following Trump’s comments, after trading as high as $97 during the renewed fighting. The benchmark is up about 58 per cent this year, raising concerns about the economic impact as the northern hemisphere winter approaches.
Kuwait’s military said on Thursday its air defences were responding to missile and drone threats. Kuwait, a US security partner that hosts American forces, has been a frequent target of Iranian attacks.
In a sign the conflict could be prolonged, the US is extending troop deployments in the Middle East to maintain its presence of 50,000 personnel in the region and give Trump flexibility on military options, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Tehran accused the US of hitting a wedding ceremony in the southern coastal city of Sirik, with the Iranian Red Crescent Society saying at least four people died and about 67 were injured. The organisation, which had previously put the number of deaths at five, said the total may rise.
“The US military never targets civilians,” said a spokesperson for US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East.
Iranian officials likened the incident to a strike on an elementary school in the city of Minab during the early days of the conflict. That attack killed an estimated 120 children and is under investigation by the US military.
“This cruelty cannot be separated from the chain of atrocities that preceded it in Minab,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei posted on X. “Iran will respond to these savage crimes with firmness.”
The resumption of hostilities brought an abrupt end to a month of subdued military activity, during which oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz recovered to roughly half of pre-war levels. The improvement in flows risks being curtailed, affecting supplies of oil, gas and other commodities and boosting energy prices and inflation.
Iran’s foreign ministry called on regional countries to stop letting the US use their facilities and territory to carry out attacks. The American strikes hit telecommunication infrastructure in the Islamic republic, it said.
Neither the US nor Iran has shown a willingness to return to negotiations since an interim peace accord reached in Islamabad in June collapsed.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters at the G20 summit of finance ministers and central bankers in Asheville, North Carolina, that Iran’s leaders were “panicked” by their country’s economic problems and predicted they would eventually be ready to negotiate.
But Iran’s trading partners have so far shrugged off his threatened “economic onslaught,” while the US naval blockade continues to stifle Iranian energy exports.
Fighting is intensifying beyond Iran. Israel has repeatedly attacked Hizbullah targets in southern Lebanon this week, while Hamas warned that the shaky Gaza ceasefire risks collapsing after an Israeli raid on Tuesday to capture a senior militant figure. – Bloomberg