Iran vows to make Trump pay for ‘grave miscalculation’ if US escalates war 

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani has warned the United States against escalating the war by hitting key energy infrastructure, after US President Donald Trump threatened to take out Iran’s electric capacity “within one hour”.

“If they do that, the whole region will go dark in less than half an hour and darkness provides ample opportunity to hunt down US servicemen running for safety,” Larijani said on X on Thursday.

“While starting a war is easy, it cannot be won with a few tweets. We will not relent until making you sorry for this grave miscalculation,” he added.

The comments come a day after Trump said the US had largely neutralised Iran’s military capabilities in the US-Israel war on Iran, which began on February 28. “They’ve got no navy, they’ve got no air force, they’ve got no anti-aircraft… We’re just riding free range over that country,” the US president told reporters in Maryland.

He warned that Washington could strike power systems if it decided to intensify its military campaign. “We could take apart their electric capacity within one hour, and it would take them 25 years to rebuild it,” he said.

Later, at a campaign rally in Hebron, Kentucky, Trump claimed the US had already “won” the war with Iran and must now “finish the job”.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Thursday said approximately 6,000 targets had been struck in Iran since the US and Israel launched their first strikes 12 days ago.

More than 90 Iranian vessels were damaged or destroyed, including more than 60 ships, and over 30 mine-laying vessels were hit since the operation began, CENTCOM said.

Larijani’s comments came shortly after Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei delivered his first statement, where he called for national unity and said the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping artery, would continue to be closed to pressure Iran’s enemies.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday said it would not allow “a litre of oil” through the key Gulf waterway.

Global oil prices have fluctuated wildly this week during continued US-Israeli attacks against Iran, which has retaliated by firing missiles and drones at targets across the wider Middle East.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said the US was profiting from the soaring oil prices. “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” he wrote.

He added that of “greater interest and importance” is stopping Iran from having nuclear weapons and “destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the world”.