The Latest: Trump says Iran will be hit hard for next 2 or 3 weeks

President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks and bring the country “back to the Stone Ages,” even as he touted the success of U.S. operations and argued that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded.

Trump said Iran would continue to face a barrage of attacks in the short term.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

Trump didn’t say anything about negotiations with Iran or bring up the April 6 deadline he set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for global oil and gas transport. He has threatened to attack Iran's energy infrastructure if the strait was not reopened.

Trump also did not offer a clear path to end the supply disruptions that have sent energy prices soaring. He did not mention the possibility of sending U.S. ground troops into Iran, or NATO, the trans-Atlantic alliance he has railed against for not helping the U.S. secure the waterway.

Oil rose more than 6% and Asian stocks fell after the comments. Oil prices were sharply higher following Trump’s remarks. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 4.9% to $106.16 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 4% to $104.15 a barrel.

U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Here is the latest:

Iran official dismisses Trump’s speech as ‘insane’

A spokesman for Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday dismissed a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump as “insane.”

Elias Hazrati made the comment on Iranian state television, insisting Trump’s remarks “boosted our nation’s integrity.”

“Trump is tangled with insane remarks,” he said. “Today, Iran is managing the Strait of Hormuz powerfully.”

Iran military spokesman insists Tehran has hidden stockpiles

A spokesman for Iran’s military, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech, insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms and munitions.

Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the Iranian military’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, made the comment.

“The centers you think you have targeted are insignificant, and our strategic military productions take place in locations of which you have no knowledge and will never reach,” he claimed.

Israel and the United States have hit thousands of targets in the weekslong war, targeting military bases, missile launchers and other sites.

Iranian missile fire has dropped, though Tehran is still able to mount attacks.

Oil rises 6% and stocks lower after Trump address

Oil rose more than 6% and stocks fell after U.S. President Donald Trump said in his national address Wednesday night that the U.S. will continue to hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”

Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 6.9% to $108.15 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 6.4% to $106.55 a barrel.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.4% to 52,463.27 on Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi lost 4.5% to 5,234.05.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3% to 24,965.07, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.9% to 3,913.88.

Former Iranian foreign minister reportedly wounded in airstrike

An airstrike has severely wounded a former Iranian foreign minister who once suggested Tehran could seek a nuclear weapon, Iranian media outlets reported.

The attack Wednesday wounded Kamal Kharazi, 81, and killed his wife, the reports said.

It wasn’t clear if the airstrikes targeted Kharazi or another site nearby.

Kharazi served as a foreign minister for Iran’s reformist President Mohammad Khatami, then as a foreign affairs adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In 2022, he told Al Jazeera that Tehran has “the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one,” sparking concern about Tehran’s intentions.

After the war began, Kharazi told CNN: “I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore. Because Donald Trump had been deceiving others and not keeping with his promises, and we experienced this in two times of negotiations — that while we were engaged in negotiation, they struck us.”

South Korea and Washington in contact about Strait of Hormuz

South Korea says it is in close contact with Washington about efforts to address Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il said Thursday that Seoul supports the swift normalization of the shipping route and is exploring “diverse measures” to protect its citizens and ensure the safe flow of energy supplies.

Park said he couldn’t specify South Korea’s possible options.

U.S. President Donald Trump has urged South Korea and other Asian nations to help reopen the waterway.

At an Easter event Wednesday at the White House, Trump expressed frustration with some Asian countries for not getting involved in opening the strait.

US embassy warns of imminent attacks in Baghdad

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad warned citizens Thursday that Iran-linked militias in Iraq “may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours.”

The embassy says the attacks could target “U.S. citizens, businesses, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports, and other locations perceived to be associated with the United States, as well as Iraqi institutions and civilian targets.”

It was not the first statement issued by the embassy urging U.S. citizens to leave Iraq, but the warning about potential attacks was unusually specific.

An American freelance journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday and remains missing. No group has claimed responsibility, but U.S. officials have blamed the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia for her abduction.

South Korean president seeks $17 billion supplementary budget

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday urged the legislature to approve a 26.2 trillion won ($17.2 billion) supplementary budget to mitigate what he called an “extraordinary” energy crisis triggered by the war in the Middle East.

Addressing lawmakers, Lee proposed using the funds to bankroll government-set price caps on oil, which the country has reinstated for the first time in three decades, and provide tiered subsidies of 100,000 won to 600,000 won ($65.7 to $394) to low- and middle-income households struggling with fuel costs.

Lee said the money will also be used to secure stable supply chains for oil and other crucial resources and support export industries.

Lee said the current energy crisis is “not a passing shower, but a massive storm of unknown duration.”

“Even if the war ends tomorrow, it would take considerable time to restore destroyed infrastructure in the Middle East and restore the flow of supplies to previous levels,” he said.

Think tank says Trump leaving Gulf Arab allies ‘in the lurch’

A New York-based think tank said Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech suggests he “is willing to leave the Strait of Hormuz off the table, leaving other nations to deal with the consequences.”

“Trump’s message was that the United States can sustain its own economic and energy ecosystem, while countries dependent on regional exports will either have to buy from the United States or manage the Strait themselves,” the Soufan Center wrote.

“While Trump explicitly thanked U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf for their cooperation and allyship, an expedited U.S. withdrawal without securing the Strait will leave many of these countries, whose economies are dependent on energy exports, in the lurch.”

Fuel prices in Thailand soar

Fuel prices in Thailand soared again on Thursday after the government further cut subsidies, sending diesel price to over 44 baht ($1.35) per liter, about 12% increase.

The surge was the second time in a week, after a majority of fuel prices rose by 6 baht ($0.18) per liter last Thursday.

Democrats slam Trump speech for failing to offer answers on Iran war

Democrats are criticizing Trump’s primetimeprime-timeto the American people on the war in Iran as “incoherent” and as doing little to answer “the most basic questions the American people,” according to statements from two Democratic lawmakers released on Wednesday.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., noted that Trump owed Americans more answers about a conflict that has driven up prices on gas “alongside rising prices for diesel, fertilizer, aluminum, and other essentials, with consequences that will continue to ripple through the economy for a long time to come” in his statement.

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., released a statement that said the “speech was grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind.”

Murphy went on to add that “no one in America, after listening to that speech, knows whether we are escalating or deescalating.”

Oil rises and Asian stocks fall after Trump’s address

Oil rose more than 4% and Asian stocks fell after U.S. President Donald Trump said in his first national address since the Iran war began that the U.S. will keep hitting Iran very hard.

Trump also said the United States will “finish the job” in Iran and that military operations could wrap up soon.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.4% to 53,004.81 in early Asia trading on Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.4% to 5,292.36. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8% to 25,082.59.

U.S. futures were down more than 0.7%.

Oil prices were sharply higher following Trump’s remarks. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 5% to $106.22 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 4.2% to $104.36 a barrel.