President Donald Trump Wednesday said the United States would strike Iran again if no peace deal is secured, threatening further escalation following one of the most significant exchanges of hostilities in two months. "We're going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard," Trump told reporters at the White House, saying the strikes were coming.
The US and Iran have traded fire several times since a tentative ceasefire took hold in early April, even as negotiators have sought an end to the three-month-old war. Trump has repeatedly said a deal is close, though there has been no sign of a breakthrough. In the latest such incident, the US military targeted air defenses and radar sites around the Strait of Hormuz after a US attack helicopter was downed near the strategic waterway. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. A US official said there was no significant damage.
Iran said the US had violated international law by striking reservoirs that supplied drinking water to 10 villages. "This is not collateral damage — it is a calculated war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghei said.
Trump, who has threatened before to destroy Iran's civilian infrastructure, did not say whether the coming strikes would target power plants and bridges.
The head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, Ebrahim Azizi, warned in response that the "war won't be limited to the region."
Despite the belligerent language from both sides, there were signs of continuing diplomatic efforts.
A delegation from Qatar, which has been mediating between the US and Iran, landed in Tehran Wednesday to hold talks on the latest developments, Iranian media reported.
The war has killed thousands and disrupted roughly one-fifth of the world's supply of oil and natural gas, sending prices sharply higher. Iran has blocked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, while the US has maintained its own blockade on Iranian ports.
Oil prices rose nearly $3 following Trump's threat of escalation, to $94 per barrel. Trump said vessels carrying 100mn barrels of oil have defied Iran to travel through the strait as part of a secret military mission. He said oil prices would be much higher without the effort.
Separately, the US military said it disabled an oil tanker transporting Iranian crude in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday for a second consecutive day.
Fighting in a parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has continued. Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, while Hezbollah claimed fresh attacks against Israeli forces. Tehran's demands include an end to Israel's attacks in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions on Iran, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets, and recognition of its control of the strait.
Trump says Iran must end its restrictions on shipping through Hormuz. He also says any peace deal must ensure Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies any such ambition. The UN nuclear watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a US-backed resolution Wednesday telling Iran to declare its remaining enriched uranium stocks and let inspectors verify them. Iran branded the resolution as "political".
