Tel Aviv • The United States and Israel pounded Iran on Tuesday with what the Pentagon and Iranians on the ground called the most intense airstrikes of the war.

Raising the stakes for the global economy, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they would block oil shipments from the Gulf unless U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said it launched missiles on Tuesday evening at Qatar’s U.S.-operated Al Udeid base and the Al Harir base in Iraq’s Kurdistan.

Meanwhile, the White House reiterated Trump’s threat to hit Iran hard over moves to stop the flow of energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, where the war has effectively halted one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, and repeated his offer for the U.S. Navy to safely escort tankers.

“Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing.

In a message posted to his Truth Social platform later in the day, Trump said, “Within the last few hours, we have hit, and completely destroyed” 10 of Iran’s “inactive” mine-laying vessels. He did not identify where the strikes occurred.

‘LIKE HELL’

Tehran residents reached by Reuters described the war’s most intense night of bombardment.

“It was like hell. They were bombing everywhere, every part of Tehran,” a resident said by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “My children are afraid to sleep now.”

In Tehran’s east, two five-storey residential buildings were hit on Monday, blasting out floors and walls and leaving a rickety concrete frame. Footage from Iran’s Red Crescent showed rescuers there carrying a victim in a body bag. Workers were still recovering bodies at the site on Tuesday when a missile struck a road intersection nearby.

With Trump describing the war on Monday as “very complete, pretty much,” investors appeared convinced he would end it soon before the disruption to global energy supplies caused a worldwide economic meltdown.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that the American public will see oil and gas prices drop rapidly once the objectives of the joint Israeli-U.S. air war are fully achieved.

A source familiar with Israel’s war plans told Reuters the Israeli military wanted to inflict as much damage as possible before the window for further strikes closes, under the assumption Trump could end the war at any time.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the war would proceed until his country and the U.S. determine the time had come to cease hostilities, but that Israel is not seeking an “endless war.”

“We will continue until the minute that we, and our partners, think that it ⁠is appropriate to stop,” he said.

U.S. DESTROYED 16 MINE-LAYING IRANIAN VESSELS

The U.S. military said it took out multiple Iranian vessels Tuesday as the Islamic Republic vowed to block the region’s oil exports and concerns grew about the country’s threats to stop tankers from using a waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil is shipped.

The U.S. destroyed 16 mine-laying Iranian vessels. President Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports of Iran planting explosives in the Strait of Hormuz.

The American military released the figure, along with unclassified footage of some of the vessels, after Trump earlier warned Iran against laying mines in the strait.

ABOUT 140 U.S. SERVICE MEMBERS HAVE BEEN WOUNDED

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces hit more than 5,000 targets.

The Pentagon separately said Tuesday that about 140 U.S. service members have been wounded in the war, and the “vast majority” of the injuries were minor, with 108 service members already back on duty. Eight U.S. service members suffered severe injuries, and seven have been killed.

In Iran, at least 1,230 people have been killed, while the death toll is more than 480 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials.

IRANIAN OFFICIAL THREATENS TRUMP

Trump said at a Monday press conference the U.S. had already inflicted serious damage and predicted the conflict would end before the four weeks he initially set out.

Iran has rebuffed Trump’s demand that it let the United States choose its new leadership, naming hardliner Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader to replace his father, who was killed on the war’s first day.

“Certainly, we are not seeking a ceasefire; we believe the aggressor must be struck in the mouth so that they learn a lesson,” Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on X.

A top Iranian security official, Ali Larijani, posted a warning to Trump, writing on X, “Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.” Iran has been accused of plotting attempts to kill Trump in the past.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told PBS that Tehran was unlikely to resume negotiations with the U.S.

At the White House, Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that Trump and his energy team were closely watching the markets and consulting with industry leaders while military leaders devised “additional options” for opening the Strait of Hormuz.

QUICK END TO WAR COULD LEAVE IRAN’S LEADERS IN PLACE

Ending the war quickly would appear to preclude toppling Iran’s leadership, which held large-scale rallies on Monday in support of the new supreme leader.

Many Iranians want change and some openly celebrated the death of the elder Khamenei, weeks after his security forces killed thousands of people to put down anti-government protests.

More than 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed since the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes began on Feb. 28, according to Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani. He said nearly 8,000 homes have been destroyed, along with 1,600 “commercial and service centers” and dozens of medical, educational and energy-supply facilities.

The intention of U.S. and Israeli strikes is “to terrorize civilians, massacre innocent people, and cause maximum destruction and suffering,” the ambassador said.

Scores have also been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon to root out the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which has fired into Israel in solidarity with Iran.

Iranian strikes on Israel have killed 12 people. Iran has struck U.S. military bases and diplomatic missions in Arab Gulf states but also hit civilian infrastructure, such as hotels, closed airports and damaged oil facilities.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this article.