UPDATE — this extends our earlier coverage: Trump Threatens Iranian Civilian Targets as Hormuz Blockade Bites and Tehran Strikes US Bases

The US military launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran on Wednesday, according to France 24. US President Donald Trump vowed to strike Iran's bridges and power plants next week if the country does not return to talks, the BBC reported.

Iran threatened to block more trade routes, per the BBC. The two sides exchanged strikes as a blockade of Iranian ports resumed, France 24 said.

Why it matters

The confrontation is shifting from disrupting shipping to destroying fixed infrastructure. Trump's threat names civilian-use targets, bridges and power plants, rather than military sites. Iran's response widens the arena from its own ports to additional trade routes.

That change raises the stakes for oil prices, global shipping and major-power relations. A blockade that tolls or delays cargo is reversible. Destroyed bridges and power plants are not.

What is new

Two elements are new since our earlier report. First, the US has moved to a fresh wave of strikes, France 24 reported. Second, Trump set a one-week deadline and named infrastructure targets, the BBC reported.

Previously, Trump had threatened Iranian civilian targets as a Hormuz blockade took hold and Tehran struck US bases, as reported in our earlier coverage. The blockade of Iranian ports has now resumed, France 24 said.

The bigger picture

The dispute is centred on chokepoints. Tehran's leverage runs through the Strait of Hormuz and the sea lanes serving its ports, the routes through which much of the world's oil moves. Washington's leverage runs through air power against fixed targets inside Iran.

Trump's framing, talks or strikes within a week, links the two. It presents negotiations as the alternative to an escalation from mobile targets, ships and cargo, to immobile ones, bridges and grid infrastructure. Iran's counter-threat to block more trade routes answers escalation with escalation.

Hypothesis: the one-week deadline is intended to force talks rather than to schedule the strikes it names. Supporting this: the deadline is conditional on Iran not returning to talks, and it targets infrastructure whose destruction would be hard to reverse. Against this: the fresh wave of strikes already under way shows the threat is not merely rhetorical. This interpretation goes beyond the sources, which confirm only the threat and its condition.

What to watch next

  • Whether Iran returns to talks before Trump's one-week deadline, or the threatened strikes on bridges and power plants proceed.
  • Which additional trade routes Iran moves to block, and the effect on oil and shipping.
  • How major powers reliant on energy through the region respond.

This is a developing story and will be updated.