US launches new strikes on Iran, Trump says they could get 'much worse'
The US carried out another round of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump said that recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signalled the end of the fragile ceasefire.
The action raised fears that the war in Iran could reignite, coming just a day after the US military hit a variety of military sites and port facilities following Iran's targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman.
Military officials said in a social media post Wednesday that the latest strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran's ability “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with US and Israeli attacks on February 28.
Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran's nuclear power plant complex, and the southern port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik.
After leaving a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump posted several videos on his social media site of what he said were explosions in Iran and issued another warning to the Islamic Republic.
“This is in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote.
Trump had said earlier in the day that the latest back-and-forth fighting would not result in “long-term” military action.
“Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” Trump said, though he also suggested the US military might “just finish the job.”
Trump also renewed his past threats to hit Iran's civilian infrastructure, including electric plants and desalination plants, and to seize the oil-production hub of Kharg Island.
After three tankers were hit Tuesday, the US launched strikes on Iran, and Iranian forces retaliated by attacking American military sites in the Persian Gulf.
Iran has asserted that the interim ceasefire deal gives it the right to manage traffic through the strait. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator in talks seeking a permanent end to the war, was defiant in a post on X: “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don't fold.”
Trump fuelled concerns that the war could restart by saying the interim agreement to pause fighting was “over”, although he added that he would allow negotiations to continue.
Attacks have repeatedly threatened the shaky ceasefire, but Trump's comments added new uncertainty, and oil prices shot up after he spoke. A renewed conflict could engulf the wider Middle East and would likely again halt energy shipments through the strait.
“For me, I think it's over,” Trump said when asked about the status of the ceasefire. He added that US representatives can continue negotiations, but he cast doubt on the outcome. “They can talk, but I think they're wasting their time,” he said.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, also a top negotiator, retorted on X that Trump's remarks “are not a sign of power but an admission of the failure” of US policy towards Iran.
Trump has threatened to seize Kharg Island at previous points in the war, including last month, when he also questioned whether the US “has the stomach for it”. Some 90% of Iranian oil exports pass through the island.
The new attacks on ships in the strait, despite the negotiations, could reflect a divide among Iran's leadership. Hard-liners seek lasting control over the waterway, which is a globally important conduit for fuel shipments and has become a critical lever in confronting the West. Pragmatists want a permanent peace deal to lift international sanctions and provide desperately needed economic relief.
Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after the dayslong funeral for Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed February 28 in the war's first moments. The funeral, which ends Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions.
The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
On Tuesday, the US military's Central Command said American forces hit Iranian targets including air-defence systems, radars and more than 60 small boats used by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Those boats have been key to threatening ships in the strait. Iran's ability to bring shipping in the waterway to a near halt during the war proved its greatest strategic advantage.
On Wednesday morning, both Bahrain, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, and Kuwait, home to US Army forces, sounded missile alerts. The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement acknowledging targeting US military installations in both countries.
Kuwait said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones launched by Iran. The Kuwaiti Electricity Ministry said a number of lines were out of service after shrapnel fell on them.
After the Iranian strikes on shipping, the US revoked a licence that – for the first time in years – had allowed Iran to conduct oil sales openly in US dollars, as part of the interim deal.
Iran and the US agreed as part of the interim deal to allow ships to pass through the strait without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran has insisted it must control the vessels' routes and vowed to later charge fees for passage. That would upend decades of practice in the waterway. The ships attacked Tuesday all appeared to be using a route close to Oman's shore, rather than one ordered by Tehran.
The US and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait.
Elsewhere, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falah al-Zaidi and other Iranian and Iraqi officials attended funeral ceremonies for Khamenei on Wednesday in the Iraqi city of Najaf.