Amid Iranian missile and drone attacks on neighboring Arab states and the regime’s rejection of a diplomatic deal, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. is preparing to strike Iran today.
“We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them hard again today,” Trump said while talking to reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re going to be attacking them and attacking them very hard.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. struck military targets across Iran after the regime forces shot down an army helicopter patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Trump vowed that Iran will ‘pay the price’ for refusing to make a deal.
“They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Axios reported Wednesday that the president was “growing more and more frustrated over nearly two weeks of waiting for an Iranian response to his latest offer that still has not arrived.”
The Associated Press reported the president’s remarks alongside ongoing U.S. airstrikes against Iran:
The United States launched airstrikes Wednesday against Iran, and President Donald Trump said more were coming, as Tehran fired back at countries in the region. The escalating attacks threatened to derail efforts to end the war, with Trump warning that Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled negotiations.Trump’s warnings at the White House and on social media came hours after Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan — all of which host U.S. troops — came under Iranian fire. It was the second time this week that back-and-forth strikes have tested a two-month ceasefire. On Monday, Iran and Israel targeted each other.“We’re going to hit them again hard today,” Trump told reporters at the White House hours after U.S.. Central Command said it struck Iranian military sites.
Minutes after the president spoke, Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it had disabled another oil tanker flouting the U.S. naval blockade in place since April.
“U.S. forces disabled an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman for the second consecutive day after another vessel violated the ongoing blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran,” CENTCOM said around noon Eastern Time.
The tanker, sailing under the flag of the western Pacific island nation of Palau, was disabled “as it transited the Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM continued. “A U.S. aircraft fired precision munitions into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces.”
In keeping with the blockade imposed by President Trump, U.S. “forces have disabled eight non-compliant vessels, redirected 134 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass since initiating the blockade on April 13,” CENTCOM disclosed.
President Trump on Truth Social revealed that since last month the U.S. armed forces have been conducting a “secret mission” aimed at aiding ships to carry oil and cargo though the Strait of Hormuz.
The “effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Straight, and into the Open Market,” President Trump revealed. “More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait.”
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