Iran will 'pay the price' for stalled peace talks, US President Donald Trump says

The US launched air strikes against Iran early on Wednesday and Tehran fired back at countries in the region in escalating attacks that threatened to derail efforts to end the war. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran has taken too long to negotiate a deal over the conflict in the Middle East and will now "have to pay the price." Trump's social media post, in which he asserted that the Iranian military has been "completely defeated," came after the United States and Iran exchanged fire, straining a ceasefire that took effect in April. "The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Separately, Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst in a phone interview that because peace talks have failed to make progress, he is getting closer to targeting Iran's power plants and bridges. "I may keep going," Trump was quoted by Fox as saying. "They had a chance to sign a deal and survive." It marked a contrast with his comments to reporters on Tuesday that negotiations on an enduring settlement to end the war were in their "final throes," and could be wrapped up in "two or three days." In another social post on Wednesday, Trump praised the US blockade of Iranian shipping calling it "the most successful" in history while labelling it a "steel wall." He claimed that the blockade had halted Iranian business and prevented it from paying military wages, while still allowing other countries to export "lots of oil." "Praise be to Allah!" Trump wrote. Fresh strikes across the region The US launched air strikes against Iran early on Wednesday and Tehran fired back at countries in the region in escalating attacks that threatened to derail efforts to end the war. Iran launched a missile attack on Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait in the latest salvo of tit-for-tat strikes with the United States after the downing of a US helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC said in a statement that Iranian forces fired "long-range missiles," claiming they "targeted and destroyed four major targets" in Jordan, including F35 fighter nests at an air base and the US command centre in Al-Azraq, state-run IRNA news agency said. Jordan stated on Wednesday that it shot down incoming missiles which it said were aimed at its important historical town of Azraq, some 100 kilometres from the capital Amman. A major Jordanian airbase, Muwaffaq Salti, is located in its vicinity, hosting the Jordanian Air Force's 1st, 2nd, and 6th Fighter Squadrons. "We intercepted and shot down five missiles launched from Iran towards Azraq. The interception resulted in debris falling, but there were no casualties or material damage," the Jordanian Armed Forces said in a statement. The US and other NATO allies have used the air base in the past, including to launch strikes on the so-called Islamic State group during the war in Syria. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency carried the statement from its military, which added that there were no injuries in the attack and that explosives experts had examined the debris from the interceptions. The Kuwaiti military said its air defences were engaging "hostile aerial targets", without immediately mentioning the aggressor, although Iran has recently carried out deadly attacks on the country. The General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force said it had successfully intercepted an undeclared number of missiles, adding that Tehran continued what it said was a "systematic hostile approach" through "unlawful attacks using missiles and drones targeting civilians in the Kingdom."