U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a new wave of military strikes against Iran on Wednesday, while warning of more attacks on the country.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement it had completed its latest "self-defense" strikes against Iran on Wednesday evening "at the Commander in Chief’s direction."
Reports showed Iran launching a wave of retaliatory attacks on targets in Kuwait and Bahrain. Iran also reiterated that it had completely shut the Strait of Hormuz, although CENTCOM contradicted the claim and said ships were passing through the channel.
The military action followed a blunt warning from President Donald Trump, who declared that the U.S. would be attacking Iran "very hard".
Speaking to Fox News after the latest attacks, Trump warned he will "bomb the s*** out of them" tomorrow night if Iran did not immediately accept a peace deal and scrap its nuclear program.
Trump also claimed that Iranian officials had called him and asked the U.S. to stop the attacks, although Iranian media refuted his claims.
The developments come just hours after Trump warned Iran had taken too long to negotiate a peace deal and "will have to pay the price."
In a social media post earlier in the day, Trump reiterated that Iran’s military has been eradicated by a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign that is now in its fourth month.
The latest round of hostilities come following the downing of a U.S. helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz that Washington blamed on Tehran.
Iran, for its part, has not claimed responsibility for the downing of the U.S. Apache helicopter, which prompted Trump to say in a social media post that the U.S. had to respond.
Iran previously launched its own attacks on U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, deepening a cycle of retaliatory strikes that threaten to derail negotiations around a peace deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Five missiles were also shot down in Jordan, according to the Associated Press.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier warned the U.S. to “leave our region” if it sought safety, and flagged that the country’s armed forces will “leave no attack or threat unanswered.”
At the same time, Israel has been carrying out an assault on southern Lebanon, targeting infrastructure it claims is tied to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Hopes for a peace agreement to end the war in the Middle East had briefly risen earlier this week, after Iran and Israel agreed to halt strikes against each other, following demands from Trump. The president has previously stressed that a deal was close, adding that the U.S. was just weeks away from declaring victory over Iran.
But talks between Washington and Tehran have so far yielded little progress toward halting the conflict.
Crucially, Iran has maintained a stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for a fifth of the world’s oil, while the U.S. has kept a naval blockade on Iranian ports in place.
Oil prices remain well above pre-war levels, fueling worries over a burst of inflation pressure that could persuade central banks, including the Federal Reserve, to raise interest rates.
Trump, in a social media post earlier on Wednesday, claimed that the U.S. military had executed a "secret mission" to facilitate more than 100 million barrels of oil through the Strait. He did not provide any details.
Source: Investing