Focus to ease Hormuz traffic

WASHINGTON/CAIRO: Dozens of countries sought ways to restart vital energy ​shipments through the Strait of Hormuz after US President Donald Trump vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran, pushing oil prices back up to damaging levels.
Trump said military operations would be intensified without offering a timeline for ending hostilities, a lack of clarity that sent share prices lower.
'We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong,' Trump said on Wednesday evening prime-time speech.
Trump said the US would achieve its military objectives soon but suggested the war could escalate if Iranian leaders did not give in to Washington's terms during negotiations, with strikes on Iran's energy and oil infrastructure possible.
He has said he may end the war without a deal ⁠and told countries that rely on fuel shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been all but closed by Iranian attacks, to 'just grab it'.
European and other states have said ⁠they will only help secure the strait if there is a ceasefire. With pressure growing, some 40 countries were exploring ways to restore freedom of navigation at virtual talks on Thursday.
Britain said the talks were focused on diplomatic and economic tools. France said the process would be multi-phased and could not begin until hostilities had calmed or ended.
'It can only be done in consultation with Iran,' French President Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to South Korea.
Iran's armed forces responded to ‌Trump with a warning for the United States and Israel of 'more crushing, broader and more destructive' attacks in store.
The ​war will continue until the 'permanent regret and surrender' of ⁠Iran's enemies, said Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the Iranian military's Khatam al Anbiya central headquarters, in a statement carried by Iranian media.
Fears are growing that the ​conflict may leave Iran with a stranglehold over Middle East energy supplies now that it has shown that it can block the vital Strait of Hormuz by targeting oil tankers and attacking Gulf countries hosting US troops.
Gulf states say they reserve the right to self-defence but have refrained from responding militarily to repeated Iranian attacks over the past month, seeking to avoid escalation ​into a far more devastating all-out Middle East war.
Iran's parliament was reviewing a bill that would formalise the blocking of vessels from hostile countries passing through the strait and the charging of tolls for others wishing to pass, spokesperson Abbas Goodarzi said.
Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East since February 28, when the US and Israel began air strikes on Iran, triggering Iranian attacks on Israel, US bases and the Gulf states, while opening a new front in Lebanon.
Iran said several people were likely injured when a bridge linking Tehran and the western city of Karaj was hit by air strikes. Some of its largest steel producers and Tehran's Pasteur Institute of ‌Iran medical research centre had sustained serious damage in the conflict, it said.
The country's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted US-linked steel and aluminium facilities in Gulf states and would step up such ​attacks if Iranian industries were hit again.
Russia said it would ask the US and Israel to cease fire for its staff to leave Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Israel, which shoots down most ​Iranian missiles, reported new incoming ‌salvoes on ⁠Thursday, Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted four drones and Abu Dhabi said it had intercepted a missile, with minor damage near an economic zone.