'2 weeks, 2 years': Trump says US can bomb Iran for years, then warns of another Great Depression

Iran vowed on Thursday to keep striking the region so long as it remains under attack, as the Middle East war spread to new fronts with Tehran's Houthi allies attacking Saudi shipping in the Red Sea. The war resumed following a ceasefire that lasted just a few weeks, throwing the region and global energy markets back into chaos as Iran and the United States battle for control of the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis this week joined the conflict, claiming to have struck two Saudi oil tankers after declaring a blockade of Saudi ports. Meanwhile, Jordan and Kuwait both reported intercepting strikes as Iran's military and Revolutionary Guards claimed to be targeting US assets in both countries.

"The armed forces' retaliatory attacks will continue as long as the US attacks on the country's infrastructure and coastal areas continue," Iran's army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said, according to state TV. The developments followed fresh US strikes on Iranian military targets, with US Central Command reporting its twelfth consecutive night of strikes, saying it aimed to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters".

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the US would bomb Iranian civilian infrastructure every time Tehran fires at ships in Hormuz. "Any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT," Trump wrote on social media.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would respond in kind to any attack on its infrastructure, writing: "Our defence doctrine is clear: eye for an eye." Iranian state media said Thursday that a US attack killed two people at Shalamcheh on the Islamic republic's border with Iraq.

It also reported two US missiles hit Bushehr, home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant and a frequent target of Washington's strikes. The Houthis said they had carried out missile and drone strikes on two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, the Encelia and the Layla, after declaring a blockade of Saudi ports.

British naval security monitor UKMTO said the master of a tanker reported being hit by an unknown projectile about 70 nautical miles southwest of Al Shuqaiq, causing a fire that the crew was fighting. Saudi Arabia confirmed the Encelia had been struck, without commenting on the other tanker.

It remains unclear how fully the Houthis could enforce a blockade, but the threat could compound the shock of the Hormuz closure, endangering Riyadh's ability to bypass the strait for some oil exports. In Hormuz, the Revolutionary Guards said they stopped three oil tankers from transiting, as the US and Iran vie for control over the route through which around one fifth of the world's oil passed before the war.

"The Strait of Hormuz is under our control... and any ship that is deceived by the US and intends to pass without coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran will suffer the same fate," the Revolutionary Guards said. Oil prices again climbed Thursday, with Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, up four percent at $97.

80 a barrel and bringing back fears of spiralling consumer prices and slowed growth globally. On the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Manila, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Houthis had been "suckered" into attacking Red Sea shipping by Iran.

"The Houthis largely were smart and stayed out of all this throughout the conflict, but they now apparently have gotten themselves suckered into this, going after Saudi Arabia and their ships," Rubio said. "I hope they will de-escalate, because I think the Houthis, frankly, got snookered into this thing by the Iranians.

" Oman, a key mediator in the longstanding war between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, said it was working to resume talks between the two sides, as it voiced "great concern" at the situation in the Red Sea.

CAIRO — The Iranian-aligned Houthis said on Thursday they struck two Saudi oil tankers as part of a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, threatening to create a second chokepoint on global oil supplies alongside Iran's near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile the U.S. military completed a new round of strikes on Iran at President Donald Trump's direction, marking a 12th successive night of American attacks and prompting further Iranian retaliation. Iran said it attacked U.S. missile systems, weapons and fuel storages in Jordan, as well as U.

S. military posts in Kuwait including Al-Adiri Camp, Ali Al Salem Air Base, Doha Camp and Arifjan Camp. Even before the renewed threats to shipping traffic in the Red Sea, Iran's near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz had stoked inflation around the world, pushing up oil prices and squeezing U.

S. gasoline consumers at a time when the unpopular war has put Trump's Republican allies under pressure ahead of congressional elections in November. The Yemen-based Houthi militants, who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the opposite end of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in what some analysts have viewed as a tactical move by Iran to seek leverage.

Five tankers changed course in the Red Sea to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday, and three tankers loaded with Saudi oil for China and India made U-turns on Tuesday. The Houthis said their forces carried out missile and drone strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, identifying them as the Encelia and the Layla.

Saudi state news agency SPA cited an official source as saying the Encelia was struck, causing a fire at the bow. The attack on the Layla remained unconfirmed. A maritime security source said Encelia had transmitted a distress call, reporting it had been struck by a missile near the Saudi port of Jizan in the Red Sea late on Wednesday.

Millions of barrels per day of Saudi oil have been heading to the kingdom's Red Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. If shipments cannot pass through the Red Sea's southern strait, they have only the northern route through the Suez Canal, adding weeks and costs to the journey.

The Houthi threat to impose a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia could significantly widen the war and strain the U.S. military, current and former U.S. officials said. Two Chinese very large crude carriers carrying a combined 4 million barrels of Saudi Arabian oil were heading toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Thursday, shipping data showed.

Trump threatens infrastructure Before the Red Sea flare-up, Trump vowed on Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's joint military command in turn warned that if Trump's threat against infrastructure was carried out, Iranian forces would target regional oil, gas, electricity and economic infrastructure and prevent the export of "even a single drop of oil," Iranian state media reported.

Hours later, Iran's Revolutionary Guards reported an explosion in what it called a mined route south of the Strait of Hormuz, saying one of three oil tankers had caught fire while the other two turned back. The Guards said the strait was under their control and "completely closed," warning that no tanker would be allowed to enter or leave without coordination with Iran.

In 12 straight days of attacks since a June ceasefire fell apart, American strikes have widened from the south to western and central areas of Iran. The U.S. military's Central Command said it would continue to "further degrade" Iran's ability to threaten ship traffic.

Iranian media reports said the U.S. twice on Thursday attacked a military target in Bushehr, near the country's only operating commercial nuclear power reactor, marking three strikes there in two days. State TV reported two people were killed and 11 wounded in what a Khuzestan provincial official described as a U.

S. missile attack on the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq. Despite claims from Washington that it has destroyed Iran militarily, Tehran has demonstrated it retains missile and drone capabilities. Iran pounded vital water desalination and energy plants in Kuwait this week and struck U.

S. military assets there, in Bahrain and in Jordan. Each side has also reported an escalating human toll. An Iranian health ministry official said 53 civilians had been killed and 592 wounded since late last month. Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on February 28, thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced.

The U.S. military has said it never targets civilians, which could violate the 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war. Trump, however, has repeatedly threatened to attack civilian infrastructure, which may be targeted if it is also being used for military purposes, provided the civilian harm is not excessive.

The war has also led to the deaths of 18 U.S. service members and injured more than 450 troops. Trump attended a ceremony on Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for four U.S. service members killed in Iranian attacks on military bases over the last few days — three in Jordan and one in Iraq.

"For me it's one of the hardest things to do as a president. But it has to be done," Trump said before leaving for the ceremony. Later, at a speech in Georgia, Trump struck a different tone, saying of the war, "I call it a skirmish.

Prior to recent conflicts involving Iran, roughly 15 million barrels of oil per day transited the Strait of Hormuz. Multiple Gulf states have initiated or discussed at least seven pipeline projects to redirect supplies toward the Red Sea, Suez Canal, and Gulf of Oman, with some construction underway according to officials and industry sources.

These plans reference prior infrastructure, including a Saudi pipeline built in the 1980s, amid reported disruptions such as Houthi restrictions on Red Sea shipping.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels stated early Thursday that they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, while the U.S. military conducted strikes on Iran amid disputes over shipping routes. U.S. Central Command said the strikes were intended to reduce threats to commercial vessels, and President Trump warned that the U.

S. would destroy one bridge or power plant for each Iranian attack on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. International law generally prohibits targeting civilian infrastructure unless it is used for military purposes.