Trump threatens to bomb bridges and power plants unless Iran resumes talks

BBC:

US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran’s bridges and power plants next week if it did not return to talks.

The comments in a Fox News interview aired as the two countries exchanged fire for the fourth day in a row.

Trump earlier reversed a threat of a 20% fee on all Strait of Hormuz cargo shipping but resumed blockading Iranian ports.

“Next week it gets really bad for them,” Trump said. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate,” he said, repeating earlier threats condemned at the time by UN officials.

After Trump threatened in April to bomb civilian infrastructure in Iran, including bridges and power plants, UN human rights chief, Volker Türk said: “Under international law, deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime.”

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

“I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets,” Trump said in an interview on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that aired on Tuesday night.

He said US negotiators had conveyed to their Iranian counterparts on Tuesday evening that they “‘better make a deal, or you’re not going to have anything left'”.

The escalation in rhetoric comes afterTrump said a 20% toll he had threatened to impose in the Strait of Hormuz would be replaced by “massive” trade and investment deals with Gulf states. His announcement came hours before the US resumed its blockade of Iranian ports.

Renewed strikes between the US and Iran triggered a sharp rise in oil prices as tanker traffic through the Strait has virtually stalled.

US Central Command (Centcom) said late on Tuesday its “forces began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping” in the key waterway.

In a statement late on Tuesday, US Admiral Brad Cooper said Iran had “intentionally targeted civilians” in the region by attacking seven commercial ships, which had resulted in “nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing, or injured”.

The United Arab Emirates said on Monday night that Iranian cruise missiles had targeted two national tankers, killing an Indian crew member and wounding eight others, four seriously.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later confirmed the strikes via a statement to Telegram, where it said two tankers had ignored warnings, turned off navigation systems and attempted to pass through a mined route.

It was unclear which other attacks the Centcom statement was referring to. The IRGC did not immediately comment.