U.S. President Donald Trump continued threatening to intensify attacks on Iran, while Tehran responded in kind.
Hours after Trump said that every attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz would lead to the destruction of “a bridge or power plant, including in Tehran,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said: “If we cannot sell oil, no one will sell oil.”
Trump at the ceremony receiving the coffins of Americans killed in the war with Iran
Israel has also stepped up its preparations for a possible escalation. The United States informed Jerusalem that it intends to expand its attacks in Iran and, for the first time in the current round of fighting, deploy heavy bombers against targets inside the country. The latest round has included 11 consecutive days of exchanges of fire.
Britain temporarily withdrew its diplomatic staff from Iran amid the escalation in the war. “The British team has been temporarily withdrawn from the country due to the security situation,” the UK government said. “The British Embassy in Iran continues to operate remotely.”
Trump shared a report stating that he had “ordered CENTCOM to open the gates of hell after the deaths of the American soldiers.” Four U.S. service members were killed in Iranian attacks, and their coffins were returned to the United States on Wednesday.
“The equation of this war is clear: all or nothing,” Ghalibaf, one of Iran’s negotiators, wrote on X after Trump’s remarks. “If our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will be safe. Security in the strait depends on the absence of American forces. We have said many times that conditions in the strait will not return to what they were before the war.”
Iranian gunmen ‘streaming to the Hormuz islands’
Against the backdrop of a possible escalation, Iranian state television reported that “large numbers of armed civilians are streaming to Abu Musa Island from all provinces to defend the Iranian islands.”
“The entire Gulf is under the surveillance and supervision of Iranian forces. Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb are prepared for comprehensive defense. Navigation through the Strait of Hormuz continues to be managed under Iranian arrangements,” the report said. Video footage showed armed men on islands in the Hormuz area.
Meanwhile, Axios reported that newly appointed Mossad chief Roman Gofman visited Washington about two weeks ago and met CIA Director John Ratcliffe and senior White House officials. It was Gofman’s first visit to Washington since taking office in June.
According to the report, which cited two sources familiar with the details, the talks focused on the war with Iran and its nuclear program. One objective of the visit was to coordinate positions with the White House regarding negotiations with Tehran. The visit took place shortly before tensions intensified in the Strait of Hormuz and fighting resumed.
Ratcliffe was reportedly among the most skeptical figures in Trump’s circle regarding the understandings with Iran and had warned in advance that Tehran would interpret the clauses relating to the strait differently.
First published: 21:15, 07.22.26