Trump pledges more Iran attacks, U.S. will be ‘attacking them very hard’
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States will hit Iran “very hard” again, stepping up his public threats as he pressures Tehran to sign a deal.
“We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them hard today,” Trump said at the signing ceremony of the Safe America Act at the White House. “We’re going to attack them, and we’re going to attack them hard.”
Trump said Iran “must sign the deal” and said the U.S. wants a deal that “makes sense and works.”
“We’ll see what happens with the deal,” Trump said.
These comments came after Trump warned on Truth Social that Iran was taking too long to negotiate and would “pay the price” amid rising military tensions between Washington and Tehran.
“Iran’s military is a complete mess,” Trump said wrote Wednesday morning. “Most of them, like the Navy and the Air Force, don’t even exist anymore. They’ve been completely defeated. In Iran, it’s all talk, no action.”
Following Trump’s comments, oil prices rose and US stock futures fell; US crude oil rose nearly 2% to $89.72 per barrel, while Brent rose 1.3% to $92.74. Dow Jones Industrial Average It has fallen more than 600 points since the statements.
Trump reiterated his claim that oil prices will return to the levels before the start of the war in February and said, “This is a military operation.” “Once it’s over, you’ll see the oil fall back to where it was before.”
Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy, told CNBC earlier this week that oil could reach $150 a barrel in the next few months if conflicts in the Middle East continue, as inventories are currently at very low levels.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated Tuesday after US forces launched an attack on Iran; US Central Command said this was “in response to the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter yesterday.”
Iran did not directly claim responsibility for shooting down the helicopter. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that no military military operations were carried out in the strait in the last 24 hours.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
