President’s remarks follow Houthi strikes on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and oil prices rising past $100 a barrel again

Donald Trump has said he is close to deciding whether to launch “a massive attack” against Iran, on a scale larger than strikes already witnessed during the months-long conflict with Tehran.

Speaking to the Axios news site, the US president said: “I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it.”

Escalating Houthi warnings to ships carrying Saudi crude through the strait lead to fears of further price surge

A fresh front in the Middle East crisis opened this week, bringing a return of soaring global energy markets and stoking fears that the oil price could surge to $120 (£90) a barrel.

In a matter of days the price of Brent crude has jumped by more than 13%, breaching the $100 a barrel mark on Thursday after Yemen’s Houthi militias took aim at a new target: Saudi oil exports via the Bab al-Mandab strait.

Secretary general António Guterres tells security council the Middle East is being pushed to the ‘edge of the unimaginable’ amid latest threats from Donald Trump

• Trump says he is close to decision on largest-yet attack on Iran

Earlier in the US day, before Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had stopped three oil tankers from passing through the strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump issued this threat on his Truth Social platform:

From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran.