The US president's comments in an interview with Fox News were broadcast as America exchanged fire with Iran for the fourth day in a row.
"Next week is going to be really bad for them," he said Tramp. "We're going to destroy all their power plants. We're going to destroy all their bridges unless they come to the table and negotiate." He has sent such threats to Tehran before, without any effect.
Meanwhile, the US Navy is again blocking Iranian ports in The Strait of Hormuz.
Deliberate attack on civilians
Back in April, Trump threatened to bomb civilian infrastructure in Iran, including bridges and power plants.
The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, warned him at the time: "Under international law, a deliberate attack on civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime."
The 1949 Geneva Conventions on the Humanitarian Conduct of War prohibit attacks on places deemed necessary for civilians.
"I'll save the energy goals for last, but eventually we'll hit the energy goals," Trump said in an interview on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that aired Tuesday, July 14, evening.
He said U.S. negotiators told their "Iranian counterparts" on Tuesday night that they "better make a deal or they'll have nothing left."
Customs for passage through the Strait of Hormuz and port blockade
The escalation of rhetoric comes after Trump said the 20 percent tariff he had threatened to impose on the Strait of Hormuz would be replaced by "massive" trade and investment deals with Gulf countries. His announcement came hours before the US reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
Renewed clashes between the US and Iran caused a sharp rise oil price, because tanker traffic through the strait has practically stopped.
US Central Command (Centcom) said late Tuesday that its "forces have launched an additional round of airstrikes against Iran aimed at destroying Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping" in the key waterway.
Admiral Brad Cooper said Iran "deliberately targeted civilians" in the region by attacking seven commercial ships, resulting in "a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing or injured".
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Monday evening that Iranian cruise missiles had targeted two of its national tankers, killing one Indian crew member and injuring eight others, four of them seriously.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later confirmed the attacks on Telegram, which said two tankers had ignored warnings, turned off their navigation systems and attempted to pass through a mined route.
Source: CNN
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