Hours after leaving a NATO summit in Ankara, Donald Trump posted videos of what he claimed were new explosions inside Iran and issued a blunt warning: "This is in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse! " US military officials confirmed the strikes were designed to "further degrade" Iran's capacity to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow channel through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas was flowing before the conflict began on 28 February. Iranian state media reported explosions in at least five locations: Bushehr, which houses the country's nuclear power plant complex, and the southern port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik.

The strikes came less than 24 hours after US forces had already hit a range of Iranian military sites and port facilities in response to Iran's targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman. Iranian forces then retaliated by attacking American military positions in the Persian Gulf, completing a dangerous cycle of blow-for-blow escalation. Tehran insists that the interim ceasefire agreement gives it the legal right to regulate traffic through the strait. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who has been involved in talks aimed at reaching a permanent settlement, was unyielding: "The era of bullying and extortion is over.

It leads nowhere. We don't fold. " His defiance came even as Trump raised the stakes further, threatening to strike Iranian civilian infrastructure — including power stations and desalination plants — and to seize the key oil hub of Kharg Island. Trump told reporters the fighting would not lead to "long-term" military action, adding that "anything that happens is going to happen very fast," before suggesting the US might simply "finish the job.

" Whether that phrase signals a limited operation or something far larger is a question neither side — nor the rest of the world — can yet answer.