Israel's military said tonight that it had unleashed a new "wave of strikes" on Tehran, shortly after a round of explosions was heard in the Iranian capital.
"The IDF (military) has begun an additional wave of strikes on Iranian terror regime targets in Tehran," the Israeli military wrote on its official Telegram channel.
It comes as the United States and Israel pounded Iran today with what the Pentagon and Iranians on the ground called the most intense airstrikes of the war, despite global markets betting that US President Donald Trump will seek to end the conflict soon.
Raising the stakes for the global economy, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they would block oil shipments from the Gulf unless US and Israeli attacks cease.
But the White House reiterated Mr Trump's threat to hit Iran hard if it tries to stop the flow of energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, where the war has effectively halted one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, and repeated his offer for the US navy to safely escort tankers.
"Today will be yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever," US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing.
Watch: Rescuers search through rubble after air strikes in Tehran
Tehran residents reached by Reuters today described the war's most intense night of bombardment.
"It was like hell. They were bombing everywhere, every part of Tehran," a resident said by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. "My children are afraid to sleep now."
In Tehran's east, two five-storey residential buildings had been hit yesterday, blasting out floors and walls and leaving a rickety concrete frame.
Footage from Iran's Red Crescent showed rescuers there carrying a victim in a body bag. Workers were still recovering bodies at the site today when a missile struck a road intersection nearby.
Watch: Trump says Iran war will end 'very soon'
Yet with Mr Trump having described the war yesterday as "very complete, pretty much", investors appeared convinced he would end it soon - before the disruption to global energy supplies caused a worldwide economic meltdown.
A historic surge in crude oil prices yesterday was mostly reversed within a day. Asian and European share prices staged a partial recovery from earlier precipitous falls, and Wall Street bounced to around its levels of late February, before the war.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today that the American public will see oil and gas prices drop rapidly once the objectives of the joint Israeli-US air war are fully achieved.
A source familiar with Israel's war plans said the Israeli military wanted to inflict as much damage as possible before the window for further strikes closes, under the assumption Mr Trump could end the war at any time.
Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said his country was not planning for an endless war and was consulting with Washington about when to stop it.
Iran has refused to bow to Mr Trump's demand that it let the United States choose its new leadership, naming hardliner Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader to replace his father, who was killed on the war's first day.
But occasionally contradictory remarks from Mr Trump at a press conference yesterday appeared to reassure markets he would stop his war before provoking an economic crisis like those that followed the Middle East oil shocks of the 1970s. He said the US had already inflicted serious damage and predicted the conflict would end before the four weeks he initially set out.
Mr Trump has not defined what victory would look like, but yesterday did not repeat declarations that Iran must let him choose its leader.
Several congressional aides have said they expect the White House to soon request as much as $50bn in additional funding for the war.
The US used $5.6bn in munitions in the first two days of strikes against Iran, a source familiar with the information said today.
"There is a big question mark over how long people can put up with the costs of this conflict," said Clionadh Raleigh, CEO of US crisis-monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).
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Several senior Iranian officials voiced defiance today.
"Certainly, we are not seeking a ceasefire; we believe the aggressor must be struck in the mouth so that they learn a lesson and never again think of attacking dear Iran," Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on X.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS that Tehran was unlikely to resume negotiations with the US.
With energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz halted, some of the world's biggest producers have run out of storage and cut back output.
After Iran chose its hardline new leader, oil prices briefly surged to nearly $120 a barrel yesterday. But by 3pm today, Brent crude had settled back down below $90.
Read more: Oil prices fall as Trump predicts Middle East de-escalation
Mr Trump said yesterday that if Iran blocks oil through the strait, "we will hit them so hard that it will not be possible for them or anybody else helping them to ever recover that section of the world".
At the White House, Ms Leavitt told reporters today: "The president and his energy team are closely watching the markets, speaking with industry leaders, and the US military is drawing up additional options following the president's directive to continue keeping the Strait of Hormuz open."
The deliberations reflect White House worries that the surge in oil prices following more than a week of US and Israeli strikes on Iran will hurt US businesses and consumers ahead of the November midterm elections, when Mr Trump's fellow Republicans hope to retain control of Congress.
But a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guards said Tehran would not allow "one litre" of Middle Eastern oil to reach the US or its allies while US and Israeli attacks continue.
"We are the ones who will determine the end of the war," the spokesperson said.
