UNITED STATES President Donald Trump today threatened to launch major strikes on Iran and seize control of its oil and gas industries as continuing attacks between the warring countries pushed the Middle East closer to the resumption of full-scale war.

President Trump threatened in a social media post that the US would hit Iran “very hard tonight” and would “assume total control” of Iran’s oil and gas industries, including the key Kharg Island oil terminal, in the “not too distant future.”

The far-right US president compared his plans for Iran to how the US assumed control of Venezuela’s oil sector after capturing then-president Nicolas Maduro in January during an illegal and unprovoked raid that killed 100 people.

The threat came after the US and Iran traded strikes for a second straight day.

The US attack, which lasted into this morning in Iran, appeared more intense and widespread than the day before.

Iran released little information on the extent of the damage and said it fired back at Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, as it had a day before.

President Trump’s latest threats represented his latest verbal escalation in the war launched against Iran by the US and Israel in February.

In April, he warned Iran that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if it didn’t agree to his terms, before extending a ceasefire in the war.

Kharg Island — located on the other side of the Persian Gulf from US bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — is the beating heart of Iran’s oil industry, through which 90 per cent of its exports pass.

It was the third time this week that back-and-forth strikes have rattled the Middle East. The first involved attacks between Iran and Israel, followed by two rounds of fire between the US and Iran, which hit countries in the region that host US bases.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement today that the US attacks had “effectively rendered the ceasefire meaningless,” without saying it was abandoning it.

During a call today with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned Washington’s attacks.

He called the US escalation a clear violation of the UN Charter and international law, and reiterated that the US was responsible for their dangerous consequences.

Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov today called for a “return to the negotiating table.”

He added that the escalation risks more “negative consequences for the situation in the region and the global economy.”