The U.S. on Tuesday launched a new series of strikes against Iranian targets, as peace talks remain stalled and President Donald Trump continues to express his frustration with Iranian leadership.
Trump on Tuesday called the strikes “large and powerful” and warned Iran against any retaliatory strikes.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!” Trump said in a post to social media.
In a post announcing the attacks, U.S. Central Command said they “follow recent attempted attacks by the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.”
The two rounds of strikes the U.S. launched this week mark a renewed exchange of fire between the two countries after a weekslong pause in fighting. The administration also announced last week “Operation Economic Outcast,” a new effort that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said will economically isolate Iran.
Trump’s threat is a sharp pivot from earlier this week, when CENTCOM described strikes on Iran’s Larak Island as “limited, precise action.” Those strikes, Iran’s state-run media reported, killed at least two and wounded several others.
Ahead of Tuesday’s strikes, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was ready to return to the since-expired ceasefire agreement if the U.S. was.
“I am stating clearly that if the U.S. returns to its commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” Pezeshkian said at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, according to state-run media.
Trump has publicly expressed frustration with Iranian leadership, writing on social media on Monday that their “leadership is in total disarray and incapable of properly representing the country.”