President Donald Trump has warned that the United States will strike Iran again. This came hours after American forces bombed targets inside the country. The threat is further escalation in hostilities that have seen both nations exchange fire across the region.
Donald Trump launches new warning at Iran
Donald Trump spoke to journalists gathered in the Oval Office on Wednesday. He said via BBC, “We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them hard again today.” The warning promise came as US Central Command confirmed on X that a new series of strikes had already begun, launched at 5:15 p.m. ET against what it called “multiple targets” inside Iran. Officials framed the operation as a necessary response to what they described as Tehran’s persistent aggression.
The current crisis began to spiral on Monday when a US Army Apache helicopter went down during a patrol near the Strait of Hormuz. Both crew members survived and were pulled from the water by an American sea drone. Trump later told Fox News that an Iranian drone had hit the aircraft without exploding while it was flying “very low.” Iran’s Mehr News Agency, however, reported that Tehran had not claimed any involvement.
On Tuesday, the US struck first. Centcom said American forces targeted Iranian defense systems, ground control stations, and radar installations positioned near the narrow strait. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired back, launching strikes against 21 targets spread across American bases in the region, including sites in Bahrain and Jordan. A US official cited by Reuters said nearly every incoming missile and drone was shot down, leaving no American casualties. Kuwait’s military also confirmed it had intercepted an incoming attack.
By Wednesday, the Pentagon was making clear that operations would continue. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that American bombs would be falling on “key facilities in Iran.” Trump himself took to Truth Social, writing that Iran had “taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!” He insisted the Iranian military had been “completely defeated.”
From Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that his country “will stand firm against any pressure or threat.”
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu for Mandatory.
