Trump resumes Iran port blockade, threatens strikes on energy targets

President Donald Trump has reimposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports on Tuesday and threatened to hit power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran resumes negotiations as the US military completed another round of strikes on Iran.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported hitting dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian coastal areas. 

During the seven-hour wave, US fighter aircraft, drones, and naval vessels were launched against Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, and coastal defence systems to "degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews", the military reported on social media platform X.

It added that the strikes took place the same day US forces resumed the naval blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas, which went into effect at 4 pm ET on Tuesday.

Tehran says it has again closed the Strait after hostilities between Iran and the US reignited last week, fraying an already fragile truce reached in June after several months of fighting that has killed thousands.

"I'll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we'll hit energy targets," Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Trey Yingst.

"Next week comes the power plants, next week comes the bridges," Trump said, "unless they get to the table and negotiate."

The 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians.

US negotiators had been in touch with their Iranian counterparts to tell them "you better make a deal", Trump added.

Kuwait's army said its air defences were confronting Iranian drone attacks, and the state news agency said a fire had been brought under control.

The flare-up over the last few days has heightened doubts that a memorandum of understanding signed last month would lead to a permanent halt to the war, which has engulfed Iran's neighbors and disrupted global energy supplies.

American projectiles hit a location around Bandar Abbas, an Iranian city on the strait, the governor's office told state media late on Tuesday.

Before the war began in February, about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day.