Trump vows to ‘hit’ Iran ‘hard’ amid renewed attacks

President Donald Trump said the United States will “hit” Iran “hard” after Tehran launched strikes on U.S. forces in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates overnight in retaliation to renewed U.S. strikes in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. “We’re going to hit them hard,” Trump told Fox News’ Trey Yingst in a phone call early Monday morning after the weekend attacks ended a monthlong stalemate between the warring countries. “There will be a response,” Trump said. The U.S. military on Sunday struck what it said were two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command said the military action came after American forces observed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “preparing to launch rockets with sea mines” into the strait, which U.S. forces have been working for months to clear of Iranian mines. Tehran retaliated with missile strikes aimed at U.S. forces in Jordan overnight into Monday, marking the largest escalation in the region after more than a month. Jordan said it intercepted eight Iranian missiles in its airspace, while the United Arab Emirates said Monday it intercepted an Iranian drone over its territorial waters. Trump told Yingst that U.S. air defense systems intercepted all but one missile, which did not appear to be bound for anything significant. Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, announced last week that U.S. forces had successfully cleared Iranian mines from international shipping lanes in the strait. Disruptions to commercial shipping traffic in the waterway, the vital oil export route over which the U.S. and Iran have been vying for control, have imperiled the world’s energy supply and sent the price of gas and oil soaring. Global oil prices surged to more than $90 a barrel Monday on the heels of the weekend attacks. U.S. forces have maintained a naval blockade on Iranian ports in the strait in an effort to cripple Tehran’s economy and apply sufficient pressure to force its leaders to the negotiating table. Speaking at the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, today, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the international economic pressure on Tehran could cause Iran’s economy to collapse within “weeks” or “months.” “The economy doesn’t have to collapse, we just have to have the regime come to their senses,” Bessent added. The blockade represents the most significant pressure on Iran’s economy, having caused a sharp decline in imports and exports, according to an economist, a foreign policy analyst and a government-linked source with knowledge of the situation inside Iran. The sources, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, told MS NOW that the Iranian government believes it can withstand prolonged economic pressure, although officials are increasingly concerned about ordinary Iranians and the potential for renewed domestic unrest. The latest attacks have revamped anxiety within Iran as people become increasingly concerned about a wider military conflict erupting again, the sources said. Tehran’s tone has shifted in recent days, with greater emphasis on protecting people from the economic consequences of the conflict. Officials are particularly concerned about a repeat of the protests of January. Potential increases to fuel prices are being discussed, according to one source, with fears that even temporary increases could trigger demonstrations. Iran ultimately wants a much greater role in determining how the Strait of Hormuz is managed, the source said, and it is seeking to demonstrate to the U.S. that it retains the ability to disrupt shipping traffic in the strait. Ongoing discussions between Iran and Oman to establish a temporary maritime corridor in the strait in exchange for lifting the U.S. naval blockade could help demonstrate and formalize that leverage, the source said. Several U.S.-allied Gulf nations condemned the Iranian attacks on Jordan and the UAE in statements Monday. The UAE called the attempted drone attack a “dangerous escalation, an unacceptable act of aggression, and a direct threat to UAE’s security, stability and territorial integrity” in a statement shared by the country’s foreign ministry. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Tehran of committing “a serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two countries, as well as a breach of international law and the United Nations Charter.” Trump said Iran “must be tried for war crimes against humanity” in a post on Truth Social on Monday, which followed an AI-generated video of “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens” that the president posted after Sunday’s attacks.