An Israeli military official said ⁠the military still had an extensive list of targets to hit in Iran, ‌including ballistic missile and nuclear-related sites.

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So far there has been no sign that ships can safely sail through the Strait of Hormuz, the now-blockaded channel along the Iranian coast that serves as a conduit for around a fifth of the world’s oil.

Trump said on Wednesday that ships “should” transit through the Strait but sources said Iran had deployed about a dozen mines in the channel, further complicating the blockade.

The U.S. military told Iranians to stay clear of ports with Iranian navy facilities, drawing a warning from Iran’s military that if the ports were threatened, economic and trade centres in the region would be “legitimate targets”.

With prices at the pumps already surging ‌in some countries and Trump’s Republican Party trailing badly in the polls ahead of midterm elections in November, oil prices have become an increasingly urgent element in the calculations behind the war.

The International Energy Agency, made up of major oil consuming nations, recommended releasing 400 million barrels from global strategic reserves to stabilise prices, the biggest such intervention in history, which was swiftly endorsed by Washington.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told CNBC on Wednesday U.S. oil companies will soon announce increased production in response to “price signals.”

But the rate at which countries can release strategic reserves will vary and the amount released would account for just a fraction of the supply through the Hormuz Strait.

Iranian officials made clear on Wednesday they intended to impose a prolonged economic shock.

“Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which you have destabilised,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s military command, said in comments addressed to Washington.

After offices of a bank in Tehran were hit overnight, Zolfaqari said Iran would respond with attacks on banks that do business with the ​U.S. or Israel. People across the Middle East should stay 1,000 metres from banks, he added.

At sea, a Thai-flagged bulk carrier was set ablaze, forcing the evacuation of crew, with three people reported missing and believed trapped in the engine room.

Two other ships, a Japanese-flagged container ship and a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, were also reported to have sustained damage from projectiles, bringing the number of merchant ships ‌that have been hit since the war began to 14.