Iran on Thursday described the Strait of Hormuz as an absolute "red line" and warned that it would continue to resist U.S. pressure until the end, after a renewed round of military exchanges and an American naval blockade aimed at reopening the strategically vital waterway.
The U.S. has carried out a fifth consecutive night of strikes and reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports, actions Washington says are intended to force the strait open after Iran closed it last Saturday following the collapse of a fragile truce.
Following the initial strikes on Wednesday night, Tehran's senior negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf released a statement declaring: "We are in an essential and existential war with America".
Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, a spokesman for Iran's army, reiterated on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz - which prior to the conflict had handled roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and gas shipments - constituted a "red line" for the country and that Iran exercises firm control over it.
"The Americans thought that by attacking some of our bases on the southern coasts of the country, they could take control of this strategic strait," Akraminia said. "However, the Islamic Republic of Iran has the ability to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz from every single point of its territory, and this matter is never dependent on coasts and islands."
According to three U.S. officials, U.S. strikes intended to force open the strait are also focusing on Iranian military capabilities that Washington would want to neutralize ahead of any more complex operations.
Iran's armed forces earlier issued a statement concerning the strait: "We will undoubtedly resist until the end and will neutralize American interventions in the region." Iran's military spokesperson has said the only means to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would be for the U.S. to comply with a 14-point memorandum of understanding the two sides signed in June and to implement "Iranian regulations" concerning ship traffic through the waterway.
U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened on Tuesday to strike Iranian power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran returned to the negotiating table. In response, Akraminia warned that if those threats were carried out, Iran's armed forces would target "all remaining infrastructure" across the region. He said any Iranian response would be more severe, wider in scope and more destructive than earlier strikes.
Separately, Iran reported it had targeted U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Jordan, and issued a warning to neighbouring countries that allowing the United States to launch attacks from their territory would not go unanswered.
"Our neighbours should know that providing a base to the Americans and allowing them to fire on Iranian soil is unacceptable and will not go unanswered," Iran's army said in a statement.
By early Thursday across parts of the Middle East, air-raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Kuwait reported it was responding to "hostile drone threats." Iran's army said it struck the Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan with ballistic missiles, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had destroyed a satellite communications centre and early warning radar at the Ali Al Salem Air Base, along with a U.S. military pier in the Al Shuaiba area of Kuwait.
The Bahraini Defence Ministry stated that national air-defence systems intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks targeting the kingdom on Thursday.
Analysts and officials warned that the latest escalation, combined with Tehran's threats to curtail more regional energy exports and to strike infrastructure across the Gulf, increases the risk of a return to full-scale war in the region.
Observers noted that Iran has signalled it could call on allied Houthi forces in Yemen to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, creating a potential second front and placing a second critical energy route at risk.
The broader conflict has already had a heavy human toll. The war has killed thousands of people and displaced millions, with the majority of casualties and displacements occurring principally in Iran and Lebanon, where fighting has resumed between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The situation remains highly fluid. Tehran's public statements emphasize its capacity to control maritime chokepoints and its willingness to escalate in response to attacks on its territory or infrastructure. Meanwhile, regional states have reported defensive responses and warnings amid heightened aerial and missile activity.
As both sides exchange strikes and warnings, the military and commercial implications span energy export routes, regional stability and the safety of military and civilian maritime traffic through two of the world's most important seaways.