US President Donald Trump said the United States would escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz if needed, adding in a Fox News interview that US would strike Iran “very hard over the next week”.

According to Reuters, asked about helping oil tankers pass through the key shipping strait, Trump said: “We would do it if we needed to. But, you know, hopefully things are going to go very well. We’re going to see what happens.”

He gave no other details.

“We’re going to be hitting them very hard over the next week,” he added in the interview with Fox’s Brian Kilmeade.