Trump tells Iran that power plants, bridges will be targeted if no deal is made – Middle East crisis live | Iran
Key events
A US strike hit a wheat storage silo in Iran’s Hoveyzeh early on Wednesday, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East, with retaliatory strikes between the US and Iran continuing for a fourth day straight, despite an interim agreement intended to provide space to negotiate a lasting peace.
Instead, the US has now reimposed a naval blockade on the strait of Hormuz and Donald Trump has said that US strikes will target Iran’s power plants and bridges next week if Tehran does not agree to a deal.
Iran has responded by attacking US allies in the region.
Here is the latest:
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In an interview with Fox News Trump said US attacks would continue to increase in severity until a deal was reached. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants,” he said, “We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
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US Central Command (Centcom) said the latest strikes were aimed at “degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping” in the strait, the key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas where Tehran has repeatedly carried out attacks on civilian vessels.
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Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the US decision to renew the blockade “has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum”. Days of retaliatory strikes continue to push the region back into all-out war.
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Iran responded to US strikes on Wednesday by targeting American allies including Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had targeted what it described as command-and-control, logistics, fuel and military equipment facilities belonging to the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Jordan’s army said early Wednesday that its air defences intercepted and shot down three ballistic missiles that entered its airspace.
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Since last week, renewed US attacks have killed at least 28 people in Iran, according to a tally based on Iranian media and official announcements.