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See the full story · 10 sourcesTrump has vowed further escalation after Iran retaliated for US attacks on rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz
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Donald Trump has vowed to “hit Iran hard” after fighting broke out between the US and Tehran for the first time in a month.
Missiles and a drone were fired by Washington at Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Stait of Hormuz on Sunday night, before Iran targeted US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in response.
US Central Command said it took “limited, precise action” on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)“minelaying forces” in the shipping channel, where Mr Trump previously claimed the US Navy had cleared all mines.
At least three people were killed in the attack, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, with two of the dead said to be part of the Revolutionary Guards Navy.
The IRGC said it then caused damage to “technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities and enemy fighter jet positions”in Jordan and the UAE.
On Monday, the US president responded to the Iranian retalition by telling Fox News: “We’re going to hit them hard. There will be a response.”
Meanwhile, Mr Trump also posted an AI-generated video showing Iran’s key oil export hub Kharg Island being “blown to smithereens”.
Vice president JD Vance later told reporters that Trump "likes to switch it up on social media a little bit" and was "sending a message”.
Iran was quick to ridicule the post, with Hamid Bovard, chief executive of government-run National Iranian Oil Co, saying on Monday: “Trump’s tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate.”
After extending sanctions against Tehran last week, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent accused the Islamic Republic of “lashing out”.
“They're in shock at the state of their economy,” Bessent told reporters at a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in North Carolina on Monday.
“I would think that they are lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically.”
Later on, Mr Trump continued to hit out at Iran in posts on Truth Social declaring the country a “Failed Nation”.
“IT IS DEAD!” he wrote. “They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, they have no currency, they are not paying their soldiers or police, Inflation is at 300 per cent, and their leadership is in total disarray and incapable of properly representing the country.”
However, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian emphasised that the country is still seeking a solution to the ongoing conflict through negotiations.
He said that “we believe that continuing the war is in no one's interest, neither ours, nor the region's, nor humanity's," according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.
An interim agreement between the two sides ended earlier this month and talks have largely remained suspended despite attempts by Pakistan to bring them together.
Several issues remain unresolved including Iran’s nuclear capabilities and operation of the Strait of Hormuz. Oman has been working on a deal with Tehran on the vital shipping route, which is still in the stages of being finalised.
A senior Iranian source with direct knowledge of Iranian decision-making warned that conditions in the strait would "become worse" for vessels that violated rules set by Tehran for passage.
US-Israeli strikes on Iran were launched on 28 February in what was expected to be a swift operation lasting weeks, but which has now entered its seventh month.
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