Donald Trump weighs Iran strikes as Tehran threatens retaliation, Strait of Hormuz crisis deepens

Iranian authorities say the country’s forces will respond with “long and painful strikes” if the United States renews attacks, and also reasserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz, complicating US plans for a coalition to reopen the waterway.

Two months into the US-Israeli war with Iran, the vital sea channel remains closed, choking off 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas supplies.

That has sent global energy prices surging and heightened concerns about the risks of an economic downturn.

Efforts to resolve the conflict have hit an impasse, with a ceasefire in place since April 8 but Iran still blocking the strait in response to a US naval blockade of Iran’s oil exports, the country’s economic lifeline.

US President Donald Trump was slated to receive a briefing on Thursday on plans for a series of fresh military strikes on Iran to compel it to negotiate an end to the conflict, a US official told Reuters.

Such options have long been part of US planning but reports of the proposed briefing, first issued by news site Axios late on Wednesday, initially spurred big gains in oil prices, with the benchmark Brent crude contract hitting more than $US126 a barrel at one point.

It later slipped back to about $US114.

Any US attack on Iran, even if limited, will usher in “long and painful strikes” on US regional positions, a senior Revolutionary Guards official said.

“We’ve seen what happened to your regional bases, we will see the same thing happen to your warships,” Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi was quoted by Iranian media as saying.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message that Iran would eliminate “the enemies’ abuses of the waterway” under new management of the strait, indicating that the country intended to maintain its hold over it.

“Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometres away ... have no place there except at the bottom of its waters,” he said.

Brent prices have doubled since the war began on February 28, driving inflation and sending petrol prices to politically painful levels worldwide.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that if the disruption caused by the closure dragged on through mid-year, global growth would fall, inflation would rise and tens of millions more people would be pushed into poverty and extreme hunger.

“The longer this vital artery is choked, the harder it will be to reverse the damage,” he told reporters in New York.

Mr Trump faces a formal US deadline on Friday to end the war or make the case to Congress for extending it. However, analysts and congressional aides said they expect him to either notify Congress that he plans a 30-day extension or simply disregard the deadline.

As well as blocking almost all but its own shipping through the strait, Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel and at US bases, infrastructure and US-linked companies in Gulf states.

Another plan to be shared with Mr Trump involves using ground forces to take over part of the Strait of Hormuz to reopen it to commercial shipping, Axios said.

Mr Trump is also considering extending the US blockade on Iran or declaring a unilateral victory, officials have said.

In a sign that the US was also envisaging a scenario where hostilities cease, the State Department cable invited partner countries to join a new coalition called the Maritime Freedom Construct (MFC) to enable ships to navigate the strait.

“The MFC constitutes a critical first step in the establishment of a post-conflict maritime security architecture for the Middle East,” said the cable, which was due to be delivered orally to partner countries by May 1.

France, the United Kingdom and other countries have held talks on contributing to such a coalition but said they were willing to help open the strait only when the conflict ends.