Iran has issued one of its most menacing warnings yet to the United States, threatening to launch strikes in “places you cannot imagine,” should the US or Israel persist with attacks against the nation.
On Monday, Donald Trump cancelled planned strikes scheduled for Tuesday. Trump maintained his defiant stance, stating he instructed military chiefs “to be prepared to go forward with a full, large-scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”
The war of words, which has intensified since the ceasefire announcement, escalated with a stark threat from Iran. The Revolutionary Guard warned that “the regional war that was promised will this time be extended beyond the region, and our crushing blows will bring you to ruin in places you cannot imagine,” according to the country’s semi-official Mehr news agency.
Despite mounting domestic turmoil, a devastated economy and the loss of numerous senior figures, there is no indication Iran intends to meet Trump’s demands – many of which it has consistently rejected. Indeed, it has doubled down.
This has left Trump’s stated primary goals unachieved: Iran has yet to agree to abandon its nuclear programme or its ballistic missile development, or cease support for its proxies in the region, including those in Gaza, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.
The White House on Monday defended the president’s approach, saying, “Trump’s preference is always peace and diplomacy” but he will only accept a deal that puts America first. “President Trump holds all the cards and wisely keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” spokesperson Olivia Wales said in a statement.
Crucially, Iran continues to maintain its stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping corridor for global oil supplies, even as the US military has imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports.
The dramatic fluctuations in global energy markets that followed have pushed up petrol prices, hitting American consumers hard and potentially spelling trouble for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of the congressional midterm elections in November.
Trump’s tried-and-tested strategy of ramping up economic and military pressure to force foreign governments into submission is failing to yield the same results in Iran as it has in Venezuela, Cuba and elsewhere.
Oil blockades have crippled both those nations, and the Trump administration swiftly toppled Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, yet neither possessed a bargaining chip as powerful as Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz.
With the Iran conflict driving up living costs for ordinary Americans, Trump’s approval rating on the economy has taken a significant hit, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted last month, with even Republican supporters showing diminishing confidence in his leadership.
