Trump says US to deliver âbeatingâ to Iran after bases again targeted
US president promises major escalation a day after new Iran attacks and his White House meeting with Netanyahu. United States President Donald Trump has pledged
US president promises major escalation a day after new Iran attacks and his White House meeting with Netanyahu. United States President Donald Trump has pledged a major escalation against Iran after the latest Iranian attacks on US military sites in the Middle East. Trump made the threat in an expletive-laden interview with Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on Wednesday. Quoting Trump, Yingst said the president promised to âbeat the f****** s*** out of themâ. âWeâll be hitting them hard,â Yingst quoted the president as saying. âTheyâre going to get a beating.â The comments come a day after Iran said it attacked US forces at a military base in Jordan, the latest salvo in a five-month-long conflict. Trumpâs remarks threaten to once again derail the latest detente after the US paused its strikes for several days starting on Saturday following 13 days of consecutive attacks. A ceasefire reached last month as part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Washington and Tehran dissolved in early July. On Tuesday, Iranâs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted an airbase and US Central Command (CENTCOM) centre in Jordan.
The IRGC warned of further attacks in a statement. âAs long as threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran continue and illegal and vicious actions by American forces against our interests continue, the resistance will continue,â it said. CENTCOM, meanwhile, described the attack as an âattempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle Eastâ. All the missiles were intercepted, and âUS forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readinessâ, CENTCOM added. The attack comes after three US soldiers were killed at an airbase in Jordan on July 17. Experts have said the killings underscored Iranâs ability to inflict deadly damage on military installations where American soldiers are deployed as US officials have warned of a diminishing supply of air defence interceptors. Despite the USâs military superiority, critics have warned that Iran maintains the ability to conduct a grinding asymmetrical war. At least 18 American soldiers have been killed since the war began in February. The latest Iranian attacks were launched just hours after Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday.
Netanyahu has long been perceived as influencing Trump to take a more aggressive approach towards Iran. Despite launching the war on Iran together on February 28, the US and Israel have diverged on whether and how to continue the conflict. Israel has pushed for the continuation of the war with the aim of changing Iranâs government. It has also opposed any agreement that could allow Iran to continue its nuclear programme, which Tehran for years has maintained is only for civilian purposes. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has repeatedly sought ceasefires that would allow it to frame the conflict as a strategic victory. Trump himself has alternated between calls for diplomacy and threats of escalation throughout the war. In April, he infamously pledged that a âwhole civilisation will die tonightâ, just hours before announcing an agreement to pause the fighting. More recently, Trump has floated seizing Iranâs Kharg Island, an important port for Iranian oil products, but that prospect would all but assure US troops on the ground. He also threatened to strike Iranâs Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site as well as civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power plants.
The BriefWire