Fresh threats stoke jitters in Middle East

United States President Donald Trump said he is considering a "massive attack" against Iran as Tehran has not "received enough pain yet". He made the comments as the US military struck Iranian targets for the 13th consecutive night, keeping the region on high alert amid an expanding conflict that has disrupted vital sea routes.

Trump told US-based media outlet Axios in an interview on Thursday that he was weighing restarting major combat operations in Iran, though he acknowledged that such a decision would have consequences.

The Axios report noted that Trump did not give a deadline for the decision on the possible major military offensive. Yet the remarks and other fresh troubles in the Middle East, including Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, led to global oil prices again spiking past the $100 per barrel mark.

"I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it," Trump was quoted as saying by Axios.

The US House of Representatives on Thursday backed a resolution directing that Trump stop military action against Iran unless he obtains congressional approval. But the US Senate, on the same day, voted down the resolution aimed at limiting Trump's war powers, by a vote of 49 to 47.

Mark Cancian, a former Pentagon official who worked on the US Department of Defense budget strategy and military funding, told Al Jazeera that the US has used so many arms in the Iran conflict that it may have left itself vulnerable elsewhere and that it could take up to five years for US stockpiles to reach pre-Iran conflict levels.

"We looked at seven munitions that have been used heavily against Iran and that would be used in a war in the Western Pacific, and (the US has) used between a third and half of those munitions," he was quoted as saying.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that "compromised individuals in the US administration are burying their heads in the sand" and ignoring the realities on the ground as they seem to focus only on 2028, referring to the next US general elections.

"The mindless aggression they advocate will only ensure that POTUS pays a heavier price for (the) deal he's trying to achieve," said Araghchi, using the acronym for the president of the United States.

On the sidelines of a meeting with Iraq's prime minister, Araghchi said his country does not have a mediation problem with the US, but the problem is with Washington's "irrational and hegemonic" approach.

In an address on Friday, Araghchi said his country reserves the right to retaliate against any acts of aggression.

'All necessary measures'

"The Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with international law, reserves its right to take all necessary measures within the framework of legitimate defense and will consider the source of any aggression against the Iranian nation as a legitimate target for defensive actions by its Armed Forces," Araghchi was quoted as saying by Mehr.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said in an update on Thursday that the humanitarian consequences of the latest escalation in the Middle East, including in and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz, continue to grow.

"The escalation threatens to further disrupt maritime trade, flights, border crossings and regional supply chains that millions of people rely on. Any further disruption could drive up humanitarian needs at a time when aid operations are already underfunded and overstretched," OCHA said.

"The UN continues to follow the situation closely and stands ready to provide humanitarian support as needed. The widening impact of the escalation is putting more civilians at risk," it added.