Tensions in the Persian Gulf escalate: Trump vows major attack on Iran

US President Donald Trump said today that the United States would launch a very harsh attack on Iran if a peace deal is not signed. Trump said the US would resume strikes on Iran today, according to CNN. He later also claimed that the US was exporting millions of barrels of oil from Iran, and said Tehran had only just found out. Later, however, he said that the US was helping oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he was unaware of millions of barrels of oil being exported from Iran, Reuters reported.

"We will attack them, we will attack them very hard, we will resume the bombing," Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to Iran's downing of a US helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.

The United States carried out strikes in southern Iran overnight, describing them as retaliation for the downing of an Apache helicopter. Tehran, which denied any hostile activity over the strait, according to Iranian media, reported counterattacks on US bases in the region, in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

"We want a deal that is meaningful, that works," Trump said of the negotiations with Iran.

According to the US president, Tehran had agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons, but the deal still needed to be signed. Iran has long maintained that it is not seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Trump also said that the US was taking oil out of Iran, according to Reuters. "Today, for the first time, I am announcing that every night we take millions of barrels of oil, millions of barrels every night," Trump said, adding that Iran had "just found out" about it. Trump added that "the price of oil is therefore at $80 to $90 a barrel instead of $250", without providing further details about these operations. He later addressed the issue of oil transportation on his social media platform.

On the Truth Social platform, Trump later said that more than 100 million barrels of oil had left the Strait of Hormuz as part of what he described as a secret US mission to help oil tankers. "More than 200 commercial vessels have safely passed through the strait," he said. He added that the United States, not Iran, controlled the Strait of Hormuz. "Their military is defeated, their economy is lost. It is the end for Iran," he added.

Energy Secretary Wright said at a congressional hearing that he was unaware of millions of barrels of oil being exported from Iran, Reuters reported. Earlier at the hearing, however, he said the US had managed to get some oil through the Strait of Hormuz and that a significantly higher number of oil tankers had begun passing through the waterway.