Trump warns Iran of escalation as US troops arrive in region

U.S. President Donald Trump repeated threats to destroy Iranian energy assets if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened soon, raising fears the war could escalate after more American troops arrived in the region.

The U.S. “is in serious discussions” with what he called a new regime in Iran to end military operations, Trump said in a social-media post on Monday. But if a deal isn’t reached and Hormuz reopened, “we will conclude our lovely “stay” in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).”

Trump has regularly vacillated between saying a deal with Iran is imminent and warning he’s prepared to up the military tempo, though in this case the threat to water facilities would constitute a war crime as defined by the Geneva Conventions.

Iran has consistently said peace talks aren’t progressing and has signalled it can carry on fighting for much longer.

The U.S. leader’s comments came as Israel and Iran exchanged missile strikes with the war continuing into a second month. The conflict is threatening to cause severe economic damage around the world, with the closure of the critical Hormuz waterway choking supplies of energy, fertilizer and other critical commodities.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News the U.S. is “going to retake control” of Hormuz, ensuring safe navigation “through U.S. escorts or a multinational escort.” This idea was initially raised in the early weeks of the war, though so far hasn’t been achieved.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Monday issued an appeal to Trump to end the conflict, saying only the U.S. president is capable of doing so. He warned of the dangers of rising energy prices on the economies of developing nations and political stability. Egypt is, along with Pakistan and Turkey, trying to mediate between Iran and the U.S.

Brent crude — on track for a record monthly increase — rose more than 2.5% to about $115 a barrel in Monday trading. Oil’s advance since the start of the year is now around 90%, stoking expectations of slower growth and faster inflation worldwide.

The U.S. military said over the weekend that about 3,500 sailors and Marines have arrived in the Middle East on an amphibious assault ship, raising fears of an escalation in the conflict rather than an imminent switch to diplomacy. The Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group is also carrying fighter aircraft.

The Israel Defense Forces said it’s carrying out airstrikes on Iran a day after attacks resulted in power outages in the capital, Tehran, and nearby areas. Iran said it’s striking Israel, which reported a strike on the Bazan oil refinery in Haifa, although not to production facilities.

The United Arab Emirates issued multiple alerts overnight and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reported a number of interceptions of drones and missiles.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that an agreement to end fighting could come soon, claiming that Iran agreed to “most of” the 15 demands the U.S. has issued, without offering specifics.

Iran suggested that isn’t the case, having publicly rejected the proposal last week.

“The demands conveyed to us have been excessive and illogical,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in press conference on Monday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to say who the U.S. is engaged with on the Iran side, telling ABC’s Good Morning America it would put them in danger.

“There’s some fractures going on there internally,” he said.

Iran has insisted on its own conditions to end hostilities, issuing a five-point plan that includes demands — such as the payment of war reparations — that Trump and Israel are unlikely to accept. Tehran has also called for an end to the war on all fronts, a likely reference to Israel’s parallel operation against Iran-allied Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Tehran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen entered the war over the weekend, launching missiles and drones at Israel, adding an additional front to the fighting.

More than 4,750 people have been killed so far, roughly three-quarters of them in Iran.

Iran’s weekend strikes on Middle Eastern aluminum plants are threatening to send a fragile market into crisis, raising the prospect of record prices for the metal used in everything from airplanes to food packaging and solar panels.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said he wants to “take the oil in Iran,” which would involve occupying the country’s main export hub of Kharg Island, also the location of an Iranian naval base. That would mark a major escalation of the conflict, involving U.S. ground troops.

“Our men are waiting for American soldiers to enter on the ground,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, according to Tasnim.

Trump is also considering a military operation to seize Iran’s near-bomb-grade uranium, three diplomatic officials briefed on the matter told Bloomberg News earlier this month.

Pakistan said it was ready to facilitate peace talks between the U.S. and Iran in the coming days after hosting a meeting of foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who didn’t elaborate on the timeline or the likelihood of such talks taking place, called for creating the right conditions for structured discussions between the parties.

Trump has pushed for negotiations as U.S. gas prices soar in a congressional election year. He twice delayed a deadline for Tehran to agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows — or face the destruction of its power plants.

The war has left over 4,750 people dead, according to governments and non-governmental agencies. Around three-quarters of fatalities have been in Iran, while more than 1,100 people have died in Lebanon, where more than a million people have been displaced. Dozens of people have been killed in Israel and Arab Gulf states.