US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth Warns of Intensifying War as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Threatens US Companies

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth Warns of Intensifying War as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Threatens US Companies

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM/CAIRO, March 31 (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive ​and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hit back with a new threat, saying that they will target U.S. ‌companies in the region in retaliation for attacks on Iran from Wednesday, listing 18 groups including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.

Iran earlier set ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai, its latest attack on merchant vessels in the Gulf or in the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel attacked on February 28.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to obliterate Iran’s energy plants if it does not agree to a peace deal and open the strait, a vital waterway for global ​oil shipments that has effectively been blocked by Iran.

On Tuesday, Trump criticised countries that have not helped in the war, including France and Britain, saying they ​should find “some delayed courage” to take the strait and get their own oil. France and Italy have pushed back against some U.S.-Israeli military operations, sources said, highlighting ⁠how divisions between NATO allies have been exposed by the war.

Hegseth, who said he visited U.S. troops in the Middle East on Saturday, said Trump was willing to make a deal and talks were ongoing and ​gaining strength, but that the U.S. was prepared to continue the war if Iran did not comply.

“We have more and more options, and they have less … in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days ​will be decisive,” Hegseth said in Washington. “Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it.”

The month-long conflict has spread across the region, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin.

Crude oil prices briefly spiked again after the attack on the tanker, which can carry around 2 million barrels of oil worth more than $200 million at current prices.

Higher oil and fuel prices have also started to weigh ​on U.S. household finances and are a political headache for Trump and his Republican Party before November midterm elections.

The U.S. national average retail price of gasoline crossed $4 a gallon for the first time in over three years ​on Monday, data from price-tracking service GasBuddy showed. Tight global supplies pushed Brent crude futures up 5.5% to $119 per barrel, on course for a record monthly gain of 64%.

The European Union is considering reviving crisis measures it used in 2022 ‌when Russia slashed ⁠gas deliveries to address the unfolding disruption to energy markets caused by the war, the bloc’s energy chief said on Tuesday.

Authorities in Dubai said the fire on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi had been brought under control following a drone attack, with no oil leak and no injuries to the crew. Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the ship’s owner, said the vessel’s hull was damaged, and photos of the Al-Salmi confirmed this.

LSEG data showed the vessel was heading to Qingdao in China, and was carrying 1.2 million barrels of Saudi crude oil and 800,000 barrels of Kuwaiti crude, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.

U.S. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs ​of Staff, told reporters in Washington that the ​U.S. was continuing to degrade and destroy Iran’s ⁠capabilities.

He said the U.S. military was continuing to strike key manufacturing and research sites and had taken out over 150 Iranian naval vessels. Hegseth said U.S. strikes were causing widespread desertions in Iran.

Thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division have started arriving in the Middle East, two U.S. officials told Reuters ​on Monday, reinforcements that could expand Trump’s options to include a ground assault in Iran.

With attacks showing no sign of easing, Pakistan is seeking to mediate ​in the war. The foreign ⁠ministers of China and Pakistan on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire, urging peace talks to be held as soon as possible after they met in Beijing.

Iran has remained defiant despite heavy U.S. and Israeli attacks for the past month. It has received U.S. peace proposals via intermediaries, but its foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday they were “unrealistic, illogical and excessive”.

Iran Attack on Oil Tanker Near Dubai Escalates Gulf Tensions as Trump Issues Fresh Warning

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it completed a wave of strikes targeting 20 weapons manufacturing ⁠sites and a ​research and development site in Iran.

The war has continued to spread, with Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen entering the war by firing ​at Israel, and Turkey reporting on Monday that a ballistic missile launched from Iran had entered Turkish airspace before being shot down.

The war has also revived conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, while Iran, which has the highest casualty toll in the ​war, has fired at targets in Gulf Arab states, where the U.S. has military bases.