Fresh strikes, surging inflation signal new phase of Iran war

WASHINGTON— President Trump said Wednesday that retaliatory strikes against Iran will continue after Iranian forces shot down an American helicopter, accusing the Islamic Republic of stalling him in months of negotiations to end the war.

The possibility of a new U.S. air campaign has raised new doubts about the viability of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran that has largely been in place since April, when the two sides reached a tenuous truce and paused weeks of fighting. Trump’s decision to continue the attacks came after a mutual ceasefire between Israel and Iran threatened to escalate into open war over the weekend.

The Pentagon presented Trump with options to expand U.S. targets beyond the region around the Strait of Hormuz to include Iranian power plants across the country, according to a defense official familiar with the matter; This would leave the president open to accusations that he is targeting civilian infrastructure.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump encouraged the Iranians to accept the framework agreement negotiated between the two sides and suggested that additional military intervention could force Tehran to accept a peace deal.

“We hit them hard yesterday, we’ll hit them hard today,” Trump said. “And we’ll see what happens as a result of the deal. We were really close to a deal, but they keep deceiving us, they keep playing us for fools.”

The president’s remarks came just hours after Trump posted on his social media website that Iran “will have to pay the price” for taking too long to negotiate a peace deal.

When pressed by reporters to elaborate, Trump said he meant the bombing would continue but declined to say whether that would include attacks on Iranian power plants and bridges; this was a threat he voiced repeatedly during the war.

The ongoing conflict, which has entered its fourth month, has left its mark on both the global and national economy. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that inflation accelerated in May due to a rise in energy prices tied to the war with Iran.

The consumer price index increased by 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the largest monthly increase in the last three years, and brought annual inflation to 4.2 percent.

When asked if he was concerned about inflation numbers, Trump told reporters “the numbers are great.”

“You know what I actually like? I love inflation. Do you know why? Because as soon as this war is over…” Trump said, not finishing his thought.

This statement led Democrats, as well as the party war room, to release news almost immediately; This news prompted Trump to issue a statement accusing him of mishandling a reckless war that devastated the economy in the process.

“Donald Trump’s disastrous economic agenda and deadly and costly war with Iran have made life unbearable for millions of Americans,” Kendall Witmer, emergency response director for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement.

“Working families are shouldering the skyrocketing costs of basic needs and their wages are being eaten up by Trump’s soaring inflation,” he added. “Trump promised to ‘beat inflation’ and cut costs on ‘Day One’ during the election campaign, but two years later Trump can’t control his chosen war with Iran while turning the economy back home.”

Trump later told reporters that a secret military mission was being carried out to ensure the safe passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important commercial waterways. He said that the operation has enabled the passage of more than 100 million barrels of oil through the strait since the day it started.

“We destroyed 22 ships last night, late at night, with no lights because they had no radar, because we blew them all up,” Trump said.

Trump in a few hours I wrote in another article He said the military operation was “wildly successful” and proved that the Strait of Hormuz was under US control, not Iran.

“Their armies were defeated and their economies lost,” he wrote. “It’s all over for Iran!”

Throughout his months of diplomacy with Iran, Trump has sought to avoid reigniting the conflict; He has generally sought to de-escalate tensions when conflicts flare up and has repeatedly pressured Israel to minimize its attacks in Lebanon, where it continues to fight Iran’s proxy Hezbollah.

According to local news, while Israeli attacks continued on Wednesday, Hezbollah announced that it carried out attacks on Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the president hinted that he was running out of patience with Iran’s tactics at the negotiating table.

“I gave them a break at Pakistan’s request,” he said. “They’re still working [getting] Make them do the right thing. But we want a meaningful agreement. “We want a deal that works.”

“Just tap, tap, tap,” the president added. “I don’t know what they’re doing.”