Next days in Iran war will be ‘decisive’: Pentagon chief Power outages in Tehran after blasts, explosions seen in Esfahan Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says will target US companies in the region.
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM/TEHRAN – US President Donald Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the US war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil” as the conflict with Iran and its closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent average US gas prices past $4 a gallon.
Trump singled out Britain and France as unhelpful in the month-long war that has roiled global markets, driven up energy prices, and seen Iran effectively close oil tanker traffic through the Strait.
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!”
He also lashed out at France for not letting planes carrying military supplies to Israel fly over French territory.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump’s sentiment regarding the Strait of Hormuz in a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday, lamenting that the United States has done the lion’s share of the work in making Iran less of a threat, and arguing that other countries now need to step up to reopen the key shipping route.
“There are countries around the world who ought be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well. It’s not just the United States Navy,” Hegseth said. “So the world ought to pay attention to be prepared to stand up. President Trump has been willing to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the free world to address this threat of Iran. It’s not just our problem set going forward.”
Trump later told CBS News he was not yet ready to abandon US efforts to reopen the Strait. “At some point, I will, not quite yet. But countries have to come in and take care of it,” he said.
Hegseth said the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal. Citing intelligence, Hegseth said: “Our strikes are damaging the morale of the Iranian military, leading to widespread desertions, key personnel shortages and causing frustrations amongst senior leaders.”
“We have more and more options, and they have less… in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days will be decisive,” he said. “Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hit back with a new threat, saying that they will target U.S. companies in the region in retaliation for attacks on Iran from Wednesday, listing 18 groups including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hit back with a new threat, saying that they will target U.S. companies in the region in retaliation for attacks on Iran from Wednesday, listing 18 groups including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy has claimed it struck a “covert location” in the UAE, reportedly housing 200 US personnel and officers, according to the Tasnim news agency.
The French military has previously said France allowed the US Air Force to use the Istres base in southern France, because it had guarantees that only planes not involved in carrying out strikes would land there. Spain, which has emerged as Europe’s loudest critic of the war, said Monday that it had closed its airspace for US planes involved in the conflict.
Italy has refused permission for US military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for an operation linked to the offensive in the Middle East, an official with knowledge of the matter said, confirming a local press report.
The denial was issued a few days ago and concerned American aircraft, including bombers, which were supposed to land at the base before continuing toward the Middle East, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Italian government later insisted that its relationship with the US is “solid and based on full and loyal cooperation.”
Israeli Air Force said Tuesday it struck 20 Iranian weapon production facilities and research and development sites. According to the IDF, during a wave of strikes this morning, IAF jets dropped 80 bombs on several targets, including a site where “essential components” for ballistic missile engines were manufactured, a site where experiments for ballistic missile engines were conducted, and an air defense system production site.
Earlier, the military said that it would complete targeting all of the “critical” assets of Iran’s military production industries by tomorrow.
The military says it also struck infrastructure at the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air force in Tehran, along with ballistic missile launch and storage sites and air defense systems, as part of the wave of strikes this morning.
The Iranian city of Esfahan appeared to have come under heavy bombardment overnight into Tuesday, while there were reports of explosions and initial power outages in the capital Tehran.
A video posted on social media, and geolocated by CNN, shows a series of large explosions in Esfahan. The minarets of city’s Grand Mosalla mosque can be seen in the foreground of the footage.
State media also reported explosions in eastern and western parts of Tehran, with the state-affiliated Fars news agency saying there were initial power outages in the city, caused by shrapnel striking a substation. The news agency later reported that power was restored.
Early Tuesday morning Israel’s military issued a warning to residents of Tehran saying it would strike the Vard Avar area “in the coming minutes.” The online warning was posted on X in the Farsi language, but it’s unlikely to have been seen by people in Tehran, as there was an internet blackout in place in Iran since the war began.
