US President Donald Trump is preparing to take his campaign against Iran into a new phase

The threat comes as Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is effectively US territory

The warning came from Mohsen Rezaei, the newly appointed head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who said Tehran would retaliate against neighbouring countries that joined what he described as the US “economic war”. “If Trump wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” Rezaei said in an interview with Iranian state broadcaster IRIB. He has said Washington controls the waterway through its naval blockade and has even floated the idea of formally declaring it American territory.

US President Donald Trump is preparing to take his campaign against Iran into a new phase, with Washington threatening tougher sanctions and economic isolation in a bid to force Tehran into accepting a deal. But the strategy carries a major risk for the Gulf: Iran could respond not by capitulating, but by attacking the region’s energy infrastructure and alternative oil-shipping routes. Iran, he warned, could target oil routes outside the Strait of Hormuz and the interests of countries supporting Washington. He also warned that US commercial and economic interests in the region could become targets if Washington imposed further sanctions. The threat comes as Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is effectively US territory.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has argued that Tehran needs to break out of the current “neither war nor peace” situation and defended a June memorandum with Washington as a possible route towards a settlement. Yet economic pain has not translated into capitulation.

The next phase could involve sanctions targeting countries and companies that continue doing business with Tehran, potentially affecting major trading partners such as China, India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, according to analysis cited by the South China Morning Post.