Iran warns of ‘red line not to be crossed’ in Hormuz, retaliation to Trump’s attack threat

Iran warned on Thursday that it would “crush” key targets in the Middle East if US President Donald Trump’s threat to target Iranian infrastructure in the coming days is carried out.

President Trump said in an interview with Fox News Tuesday night that the U.S. military will target key Iranian infrastructure next week if a diplomatic breakthrough is not achieved.

“Next week is going to be really bad for them because the power plants come on line next week,” he said. “The bridges are coming next week. We’re going to destroy all their power plants. We’re going to destroy all their bridges unless they come to the table and negotiate.”

In a statement posted on Telegram Thursday morning, a spokesperson for Iran’s military high command said that if President Trump’s threat is carried out, “everything that is still intact – all infrastructure in the region – will be crushed by the steel blows of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s powerful armed forces, so that no trace of them will remain and it will be as if they never existed in the first place.”

“Under no circumstances will we allow the United States to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz as a foreign and extraterritorial state,” he added.

“This is an invincible red line for Iran that it cannot cross,” the spokesperson said.

The strait is a key Middle East waterway for the transportation of oil and other key goods and has been the focus of fighting between American and Iranian forces.

Violence has escalated in recent days since the United States launched an attack on Iran earlier this week in retaliation for an attack on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Tehran launched attacks on several Gulf states.

Overnight, U.S. Central Command carried out a new offensive against Iran that ended at 9 p.m. ET.

“The U.S. military has attacked Iran’s command centers, air defenses, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities to further reduce Iran’s ability to threaten innocent sailors aboard commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” Centcom said in a statement published on X.

“CENTCOM used precision munitions to attack targets in multiple locations, including Bandar Abbas.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson also warned of retaliation on Wednesday.

“Our hands are not tied,” he said at an event in Tehran, state media reported. “Our warfighters will fight back against U.S. aggression with all our might, but we have not followed through on mutual commitments made in other provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding.”

President Trump said last week that the ceasefire agreed between the two countries last month was “over.” He told Fox Business News on Wednesday that Iranian officials want to meet with a U.S. delegation for new negotiations.

Oil prices fell on Thursday morning, brent crude oil futures September delivery was down 0.5%, trading at $84.42 a barrel by 4:30 a.m. ET. previous month usa west texas intermediate crude oil Futures fell almost 0.2% to $79.47 a barrel.

Clark H. Summers, an adjunct professor of government and political philosophy at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, told CNBC that he believes the current situation is likely to lead to a stalemate.

“The United States will continue its precision airstrikes to destroy (drones) and surface-to-surface missile launch sites as Iran launches sudden attacks,” he said in an email. “The United States will also act to defeat air attacks carried out against neutral shipping in the Persian Gulf. I expect these actions to be…very effective at the tactical level, but strategically ineffective as long as Iran continues to produce drones and missiles (or stockpiles them).”

Summers added that President Trump’s recent proposal to impose a 20% fee on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz (though he has since withdrawn the proposal) strongly suggests that the Trump administration recognizes that the cost of war is eroding public support for the president.

“He has carefully circumvented the War Powers Act and seems well aware that current U.S. industrial and logistical capabilities cannot sustain this conflict indefinitely (probably not through the midterm elections, certainly not in 2028),” Summers said.

However, he noted that victory could be achieved as long as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps remained in power in Iran and “could emerge from the rubble alive.”

“Only a serious ground threat can destroy the Revolutionary Guards as a governing body and force us to accept surrender,” Summers told CNBC. “It is highly unlikely that such a threat would come from conventional U.S. military forces. Such an operation is beyond the current capabilities of the U.S. military and U.S. Marines combined.”

Summers said a raid on the key Khalg Island to tighten the blockade on Iranian oil exports could help reach a negotiated peace deal, “but it is unlikely that the Revolutionary Guards will abide by any agreement.”

Richard de Meo, founder and CEO of Attalla, a London-based brokerage specializing in commodity hedging, told CNBC that markets are becoming increasingly insensitive to developments in the U.S.-Iran war.

“There is a growing fatigue across the corporate sector over the vast amount of geopolitical risk, with some companies taking a false sense of security from relatively range-bound market conditions and missing out on the sharp volatility we are seeing, particularly in energy markets,” he said.

“Nevertheless, treasury teams continue to demonstrate strong discipline in their approach to risk management. Where policy flexibility allows, many teams are taking steps to increase hedge ratios, extend hedge periods, and strengthen protection and resilience against future market uncertainty.”