Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1303 EAT on Wednesday 15 July 2026

The comments, made during an interview with Fox News, came as the two countries exchanged fire for the fourth consecutive day.

Trump had earlier backed away from a threatened 20% fee on all cargo shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but later resumed efforts to blockade Iranian ports.

“Next week it gets really bad for them,” Trump said. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”

The remarks came amid heightened tensions between the two countries, with diplomatic efforts continuing as military exchanges intensified.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk previously warned that deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure would constitute a war crime under international law.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions, which set out rules for the conduct of warfare, prohibit attacks on objects considered essential to civilian survival.
However, US President Donald Trump said Washington would continue targeting Iran’s infrastructure if Tehran does not agree to negotiations.

“I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets,” Trump said in an interview on Special Report with Bret Baier, which aired on Tuesday night.
He added that US negotiators had delivered a warning to their Iranian counterparts earlier that evening: “They better make a deal, or you’re not going to have anything left.”

The heightened rhetoric came after Trump said a previously threatened 20% toll on cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz would instead be replaced with “massive” trade and investment agreements with Gulf states.

The announcement came hours before the US military launched a seven-hour wave of strikes on Iran and resumed a blockade targeting Iranian ports.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had struck “dozens” of Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz, saying the operation was aimed at reducing Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews.

Iran’s army said at least seven military personnel were killed in US strikes on a base in the southeastern city of Bampur on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Iran launched missiles and drones at US targets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, according to Iran’s state broadcaster, IRIB.

Kuwait’s military said it intercepted Iranian attack drones in the early hours of Wednesday, while Bahrain’s military said it had “succeeded in intercepting and destroying” aerial threats.

The United States also accused Iran of deliberately targeting civilians after attacks on seven commercial vessels, which reportedly left nearly a dozen civilian crew members dead, missing or injured, according to a statement from the CENTCOM commander issued late Tuesday.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Monday night that Iranian cruise missiles had targeted two national tankers, killing an Indian crew member and wounding eight others, four seriously.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later confirmed the strikes via a statement to Telegram, where it said two tankers had ignored warnings, turned off navigation systems and attempted to pass through a mined route.

It was unclear which other attacks the Centcom statement was referring to. The IRGC did not immediately comment.

Separately, an Indian sailor who went missing after his ship was attacked off the coast of Oman last week was found dead, his family confirmed on Wednesday.

The other 23 crew members aboard the Cypriot-flagged GFS Galaxy were rescued after the vessel was disabled on Sunday. Centcom accused the IRGC of launching the attack, but Tehran is yet to respond.

Renewed strikes between the US and Iran triggered a sharp rise in oil prices as tanker traffic through the Strait has virtually stalled.

It underscores the strategic importance of the waterway – with Iran accusing the US of interfering in its management of Hormuz – but controlling it means Tehran can also threaten the global economy.

On Monday, Trump declared that the US was now the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz, and vowed to impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the waterway to pay for protecting it.

Raising the stakes further, Trump said the US would also reimpose its naval blockade on Iran in a bid to further squeeze the country’s struggling economy.

In his latest post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.

“Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future.”

The US president provided no further details.

He also said the strait “is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran” and that “oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome Power of the United States Military”.

Speaking later, after talks in Washington with the new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Trump said: “I don’t like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it’s not fair that we’re protecting this Strait for the entire world.”

He said he had changed his initial fee plan after receiving numerous calls from Gulf leaders.

In response to Trump’s announcement, Iran said it would remain in control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Trump’s blockade decision “has, in a way, dismantled” an earlier agreed truce deal, the AFP news agency reported.

Gharibabadi also told state television, as quoted by Reuters news agency: “If the US thinks that by tightening its measures against us, its military actions and its economic blockade, we will return to negotiations, it is making a mistake.”

The US first imposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports in April to put pressure on Tehran. Roughly five weeks later, the US military said it had redirected 100 commercial vessels and disabled four under the blockade.

The US lifted the blockade in June as part of a deal – known as a memorandum of understanding – between the two countries that aimed to end the conflict, but a dispute over the strait has become a key point of contention.

Meanwhile, shipping data shows traffic through the strait has slowed to a two-month low. The benchmark Brent Crude oil price has also risen sharply.

-BBC

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