Writing on his Truth Social website, Trump said any attempt to block oil shipments would lead to an attack “TWENTY TIMES HARDER” ― and so severe that it will be “virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again.”

Iran has responded to the US-Israeli military campaign by threatening to attack ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, effectively cutting off some 20% of the world’s oil.

Critics said Trump’s rhetoric went beyond wartime belligerence and crossed a line into something far more ominous. They hit back on X: