{"id":255879,"date":"2026-08-19T09:44:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/255879\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T09:44:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:44:19","slug":"iran-threatens-to-attack-us-targets-in-europe-if-trump-escalates-war-says-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/255879\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran threatens to attack US targets in Europe if Trump escalates war, says report"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Iran is considering launching attacks on US military targets in Europe if President Donald Trump escalates the conflict, according to a report. <\/p>\n

Sources close to Iran\u2019s government told the Financial Times<\/a> that potential targets included a British air base in Cyprus that was targeted by a drone in March. <\/p>\n

Other countries in southeastern Europe such as Bulgaria, which approved US access to its Bezmer air base for refuelling last month, were also weighed up as a potential target for strikes. <\/p>\n

It follows warnings that Tehran is considering switching to a \u201cfully offensive\u201d strategy, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday. <\/p>\n

\"TrumpTrump says the shipping route is open contrary to data (Donald Trump Truth Social\/AFP\/Getty\/Independent)<\/p>\n

A deal between the US<\/a> and Iran<\/a> appears further away than ever<\/a> as Trump<\/a> declared the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> as American territory on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Sharing a bizarre map of the region with a large blue circle around the waterway, he declared the vital shipping route \u201cNEW US territory\u201d<\/a> on Truth Social. <\/a><\/p>\n

Shortly after sharing the image, the US leader announced that there are \u201cno talks or conversations going on, or scheduled with the Islamic Republic of Iran\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect,\u201d he continued on the platform. \u201cThe Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA view of the B1 bridge is pictured, a day after it was destroyed by a strike in Karaj, around 20miles (35kms) southwest of Tehran (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

However, data shared by Kpler with The Independent shows that only ten vessels passed through on Monday, compared to 130 to 140 before the outbreak of war. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, according to Kpler data seen by Reuters. <\/p>\n

Iran had earlier said the shipping route is to remain closed until the US meet the conditions agreed in an interim deal, according to Iran\u2019s top negotiator Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf in comments shared by state media.<\/p>\n

Conditions include lifting a marine blockade and sanctions as well as releasing Iran\u2019s frozen assets.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s Aramco resumed oil loading from inside the Strait last week with more waiting to load, according to shipping data and trade sources who spoke to Reuters. <\/p>\n

\"TrumpTrump has declared the Strait of Hormuz as \u2018new US territory\u2019 (Truth Social)<\/p>\n

Tehran<\/a> says it has reached an agreement with Oman over a plan for ships to transit the Strait and that they are now working to finalise details for a joint statement.<\/p>\n

Muscat has been working on a resolution to reopen shipping through the waterway, which passes through both countries. <\/p>\n

On Monday, the US leader threatened to launch an attack on Oman as a 60-day period to negotiate a ceasefire deal expired. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf Oman gets in the way, we\u2019ll bomb the s**t out of them,\u201d Trump said in an interview with Fox News, <\/a>after reports Oman and Iran are working out their own solution to control the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n

He was later asked if he was out of patience with Oman and told reporters: “No, I don’t think they behaved very well, but we’d handle them very easily, just like we do other things.”<\/p>\n

\"AA drone view shows vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 15, 2026. (Reuters)<\/p>\n

A deal appeared to be in sight after Iran and the US agreed to a 14-point memorandum of understanding <\/a>brokered by Pakistan over two months ago. <\/p>\n

But the agreement collapsed last month over different understandings surrounding a clause on the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n

Iran attacked three commercial vessels passing through the Omani corridor of the waterway. The US almost immediately revoked sanctions relief on Iranian oil sales and US Central Command launched a wave of strikes on more than 80 military targets in response. <\/p>\n

Both sides accused the other of violating the ceasefire agreement. <\/p>\n

The fifth clause of the MOU states that the Islamic Republic of Iran will \u201cmake arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels, with no charge for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GhalibafGhalibaf says that the shipping route will remain closed (Middle East Images)<\/p>\n

It adds: \u201cThe traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles, and de-mining by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will be instated within 30 days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The confusion arises over the next section, stating that both sides \u201cwill conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman, to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz, in discussions with other Persian Gulf Littoral States, in line with applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran says that this means that the governance of the strait remains under Iranian control and that passage without approval constitutes a violation but the US says that attacks on vessels are a violation of Tehran<\/a>\u2019s promise to allow commercial vessels unfettered access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[5084,34],"class_list":["post-255879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-horizontal","tag-iran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117121533706114103","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}