‘We’ll hit them hard’: Trump declares fresh attacks on Iran

United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran had taken too long for a deal and would “have to pay the price”, casting fresh doubt on peace talks to end the ongoing war.

Trump said this in a statement shared on Truth Social.

The president wrote: “Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore – They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!

Trump later spoke to reporters during a signing ceremony at the Oval Office.

He said the United States is going to attack Iran “very hard” if no peace deal is finalised.

“We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” the president said, citing Iran’s downing of an Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz.

“We’ll see what happens, but we hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them again hard today,” he stated.

Oil prices rise as Iran shuts Strait of Hormuz after US attack

Trump added Iran should sign the deal with the United States, saying: “We want a deal that’s meaningful, we want a deal that works.”

The latest escalation follows the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, triggering a series of retaliatory attacks by both sides across Iran and against U.S. military installations in the region.

Iran has maintained that any peace agreement must include an end to Israeli military operations in Lebanon, the removal of sanctions on Tehran, the release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, and international recognition of its authority over the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, however, insisted that Iran must stop imposing restrictions on shipping through the strategic waterway and reiterated that any settlement must guarantee that Tehran cannot develop nuclear weapons – an ambition Iran continues to deny pursuing.