Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned it could target additional energy export routes used by the United States and its allies, raising fears that the conflict could spread beyond the Strait of Hormuz to other critical global shipping lanes.
The warning, carried by Iranian state media, came after Tehran shut the Strait of Hormuz and as US forces continued strikes on Iranian military targets. The US also reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and intensified its airstrike campaign Wednesday in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC’s warning comes as tensions between Tehran and Washington continue to escalate following renewed US military operations and restrictions on Iranian maritime activity.
In a statement cited by Iran’s IRNA state news agency on Wednesday, the IRGC said, “Regional energy exports are either shared by all, or denied to all.” According to Iranian media, the Guards also threatened to shut “all other export corridors that benefit the US and its allies.”
The latest remarks have heightened concerns over the security of global energy supplies, with analysts previously telling Reuters that Iran could seek to expand the conflict by leveraging its Houthi allies in Yemen to disrupt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Bab el-Mandeb emerges as another flashpoint
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and serves as one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints. A significant share of international trade and Saudi Arabia’s oil exports pass through the narrow waterway.
A senior Houthi official said on Monday that the group was prepared to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if Saudi Arabia continued military operations in Yemen, according to Iran’s Press TV. The official said such a move could drive crude oil prices as high as $200 per barrel.
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The warning followed renewed hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia after the Iran-aligned group accused Riyadh of carrying out an airstrike on an airport under Houthi control. The Houthis subsequently launched missile attacks toward Saudi territory, ending a four-year truce in the Yemen conflict.
The group has previously disrupted commercial shipping. Following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis targeted merchant vessels in the Red Sea, saying the attacks were aimed at ships linked to Israel in support of Palestinians, Reuters reported.
US launches fresh military strikes
The renewed regional tensions come after the US military announced on Tuesday that it had begun another round of strikes aimed at reducing what it described as Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.
The United States said Iran had attacked seven commercial vessels over the past week, resulting in several crew members being killed, injured or reported missing.
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US Central Command said late Tuesday that American forces struck dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran’s southern coastline during an operation lasting approximately seven hours.
Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said at least 30 civilians had been killed in recent US strikes in southern Iran, Iranian state media reported. Separately, Iran’s military said overnight US attacks on the Bampur military base in southeastern Iran killed at least seven active-duty and conscript personnel.
IRGC vows to keep Hormuz closed
The Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut until what they described as “the end of America’s evils.”
Before the current conflict began in February, roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil and natural gas shipments transited through the Strait of Hormuz, making it one of the most strategically important energy corridors globally.
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The IRGC also claimed responsibility for attacks on what it described as US military-related facilities across the Gulf region. According to the statement carried by Iranian media, the Guards said they had targeted command, logistics, fuel and equipment facilities linked to the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain in response to recent American strikes.
The group further claimed it had destroyed a US logistics facility at Kuwait’s Mina Abdullah and struck what it described as a US base at Azraq in Jordan, targeting aircraft hangars.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kuwait’s state news agency reported that firefighters had brought a blaze under control at a site struck during Iranian attacks, although it was not immediately clear whether it was the same location referenced by the IRGC.
Jordan’s military said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles that entered the country’s airspace from Iranian territory early Wednesday.
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Trump warns of strikes on Iranian infrastructure
The latest escalation follows the collapse of a fragile ceasefire reached in June after months of fighting between Iran and the United States, according to Reuters.
US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that Washington could target additional Iranian infrastructure if Tehran does not return to negotiations.
“I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News.
Trump also said US officials had conveyed a message to Iranian negotiators: “you better make a deal.”
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