US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the war with Iran will end “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target.” “Little this and that… Any time I want it to end, it will end,” Trump said during a five-minute phone interview with Axios.
Even as Trump publicly signals his ‘Operation Epic Fury’ has largely accomplished its objectives, US and Israeli officials say there has been no internal directive on when fighting might stop.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that they struck two vessels after they ignored warnings from the IRGC Navy and attempted to navigate the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
“The vessel ‘Expres Room’, owned by the Zionist regime, flying the Liberian flag, was struck with Iranian projectiles this morning after ignoring warnings from the IRGC Navy,” the IRGC said in a statement posted on X handle ‘True Promise’, the codenamed Iran has given to its retaliatory operation against the US-Israel attacks in the Islamic republic.
“The container ship ‘Mayuree Naree Bangkok’ was also struck a few hours earlier after ignoring alerts and warnings from the IRGC Navy and illegally insisting on passing through the Strait of Hormuz,” the Guards further claimed.
“We will not allow even a single litre of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz for the benefit of the US, the Zionist regime or their partners,” it added.
In a separate post, the Iranian forces claimed to have delivered “a devastating blow” to the Israeli military intelligence directorate.
“The Iranian army attacked with drones this morning, hitting various targets in the occupied territories, including the military intelligence directorate, known as AMAN, Unit 8200, the Green Pine radar, as well as the submarine headquarters building at the naval base in Haifa,” it added.
Earlier, Iran’s military command said the world should be prepared for oil to hit $200 a barrel, as three more ships came under attack in the blockaded Gulf.
Iran fired at Israel and targets across the Middle East, demonstrating it could still fight back and disrupt energy supplies despite what the Pentagon has described as the most intense US-Israeli strikes yet.
Moreover, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency has released a list of offices and infrastructure run by top US companies with Israeli links whose technology has been used for military applications, describing them as “Iran’s new targets”.
“As the scope of the regional war expands to infrastructure war, the scope of Iran’s legitimate targets expands,” it said.
The companies include Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle, and the listed offices and infrastructure for cloud-based services are located in multiple Israeli cities, as well as in some Gulf countries.
Also, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi held a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in which they “discussed and exchanged views regarding the latest developments following the attack and aggression of the US and Israeli regime against Iran,” the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X.
Araghchi discussed what the ministry termed “the various dimensions of the aggressive attack and American-Zionist war crimes,” noting that schools, hospitals, residential areas, as well as historical sites, have been targeted. These actions, the Iranian foreign minister said, “constitute a clear violation of international law and the fundamental principles of humanitarian law.”
In reference to the human consequences and damages due to the attacks, Araghchi called for “a decisive and explicit condemnation of these actions by the international community and responsible institutions,” the ministry wrote.
He further stressed Iran’s “inherent right to defend itself against this imposed war,” and stated that the Islamic Republic had warned relevant parties in the region and beyond, that in the event of US military action against Iran, the latter would target all American facilities and bases in the region. This, he said, would lead to the war expanding across the entire region.