US President Donald Trump said air strikes on Iran will continue until he says "it's enough," as Tehran and Washington stepped up attacks in a battle to control the Strait of Hormuz, in what the United Nations called a "huge setback" for civilians in the region.Speaking to Fox News on July 14, Trump said US negotiators held talks with Tehran during the day as he again urged Iranian officials to agree to a deal to end the war.When asked during the interview how long the US strikes would continue, Trump responded: "They'll continue until I say it's enough."He also warned the range of targets the US military may engage would broaden if Tehran doesn't make a deal."Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges," Trump said."We're going to knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."
While explosions rocked several cities across southern Iran during a fourth consecutive day of air strikes, Iran launched missiles at its Gulf neighbors, including Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry expressed "strong condemnation" of Iran's attacks on several Arab countries, holding Tehran "responsible for the consequences of continuing these cruel attacks."With a memorandum of understanding reached last month that aimed to give the two sides 60 days to negotiate a broad peace deal in tatters, fighting has been concentrated around the Strait of Hormuz, a key global transit route for energy and consumer products.Trump threatened a day earlier to charge a 20 percent fee on cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz under the guardianship of the US military, but on July 14 he proposed replacing that with trade and investment agreements with Persian Gulf states while maintaining a blockade on Iranian shipping.“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.He provided no details of any commitments by Gulf governments but said the investments would be “MASSIVE.”
