President Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. would resume attacks on Iran later in the day after Tehran shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter on Monday, prompting a series of American retaliatory strikes.
"We're going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard," he told reporters in the Oval Office. "We hit them hard yesterday, and we're going to hit them again hard today."
The president has repeatedly insisted that the two sides are close to reaching a deal, but nothing has yet materialized.
"We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along.
They keep playing us for suckers," he said.
Earlier in the day, the president wrote on social media that Iran had taken too long to agree to a deal and would now "pay the price."
"Iran's Military is a complete and total mess.
Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn't even exist anymore — They have been completely defeated.
Iran is all talk and no action," he wrote on Truth Social. "They've taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!"
The U.S. and Iran reached a ceasefire in April, but it has been continuously strained by tit-for-tat strikes from both sides, as well as Israel's ongoing military campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
The Strait of Hormuz also remains closed, disrupting shipping through the critical waterway, through which about a fifth of the world's oil normally transits.
The latest round of violence began Monday when an Iranian drone struck a U.S. Apache helicopter as it patrolled the strait near the coast of Oman.
The pilot was able to bring the aircraft down into the water, allowing the crew to escape.
The U.S. responded with waves of strikes against Iranian radars, air defenses and other military sites, calling it a "proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression."
Iran responded by launching missiles and drones across the Persian Gulf, targeting U.S. military bases and allies, most of which were intercepted.
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