Just one day after President Donald Trump warned in a national address of high-intensity strikes against Iran over two to three weeks, the U.S. military destroyed a highway bridge near Tehran. Iran responded by vowing to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz even after the war ends, working with Oman on plans to govern the waterway.
According to Iran's state-run Fars News Agency on June 2 local time, a bridge on the highway connecting Tehran to the western city of Karaj collapsed in the middle after two airstrikes. CNN and Iranian media reported the strikes killed eight people and injured 95.
Trump posted a video of the bridge being blown up on Truth Social the same day, writing, "Our military has not even begun to destroy what is left of Iran." He warned, "Iran needs to make a deal before it is too late, before there is nothing left."
According to the New York Times, a U.S. military official described the attack as an operation to cut supply routes used by Iran's missile and drone units. Iran's semi-official news agency countered that the bridge had not been opened and was not being used as a military supply route. The Iranian military launched retaliatory strikes against the U.S. military base in Bahrain, an Amazon cloud computing center, and U.S. fighter jets in Jordan.
Iran accelerated efforts to strengthen control over the Strait of Hormuz after the war. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international organization affairs, told Russia's Sputnik News Agency, "We are drafting new protocols for monitoring ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz together with Oman." He added, "You should not expect pre-war rules to apply."
Rising tensions in the Middle East pushed Brent crude spot prices above $140 per barrel for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures also broke through $110 for the first time in four years.
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