Trump threatens Iranian infrastructure after Houthis block Red Sea artery

DUBAI/MANILA, July 23 ------ US President Donald Trump vowed to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after Iranian-allied Houthis in Yemen threatened a second vital energy route.

Seven tankers have changed course in the Red Sea to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb strait since the Houthis' threat on Tuesday to block Saudi oil exports, highlighting a new risk to global oil supplies from the intensifying conflict.

In response to Trump's threat to Iran's infrastructure, an Iranian military source cited by Tasnim news agency said Tehran would retaliate against infrastructure in the region. Iran's near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf has stoked inflation around the world, and the new risk to shipping from the Houthis, who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, pushed oil prices to a near six-week high. Brent crude futures hit more than $95 a barrel before easing back to nearer $93 by midmorning US time.

US gasoline prices, which have weighed Trump's poll ratings ahead of midterm elections in November, have climbed back over $4 a gallon. Millions of barrels of Saudi oil per day 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 Bab el-Mandeb Strait, they have only the northern route out via the Suez Canal, which adds weeks to the journey.

Iranian official says Trump is in a quagmire

US strikes have widened from the south to western and central areas of Iran in recent days and Iran has pounded vital water desalination and energy plants in Kuwait this week and targeted US military assets there, in Bahrain and in Jordan.

Iran strengthened its military in anticipation that its adversaries would break agreements, Army Commander-in-Chief Major General Amir Hatami said. Iranian media also cited parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee spokesperson Hasan Qashqavi as saying Trump was in a "quagmire." An Iranian health ministry official said 53 civilians had been killed and 592 wounded since late last month; the US military has said it never targets civilians.

The war has led to the deaths of 18 US service members and injured more than 450 troops. Trump attended a ceremony on Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for four US 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," he said before leaving for the ceremony.

Source: gmanetwork.com