Trump Threatens to Hit Iran Hard

By Staff, Agencies 

US President Donald Trump has vowed to “hit Iran hard” following Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on US military installations in Jordan.

Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones at US military positions after US forces struck Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards [IRG] announced that its attack targeted the King Hussein and Al-Azraq air bases in Jordan in retaliation for the US strike, which Tehran said killed two Iranian soldiers and a civilian and injured several others.

“There will be a response,” Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst by phone on Monday. “We’re going to hit them hard.”

Trump claimed that US forces allowed one incoming missile to pass through their defenses after determining that it was not going to hit anything “significant.”

Despite threatening further military action, Trump suggested that negotiations remain possible. “They want to meet so badly,” he told Fox. “The sanctions are kicking in really strongly.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran is “not looking for war” but would deliver a “decisive response” to further attacks.

Trump and senior US officials were already considering a plan for periodic strikes on Iranian military capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz before the latest exchange, Axios reported, citing three US officials.

The proposal, developed by US Central Command and backed by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, would target Iranian radar, air defenses, and anti-ship missile capabilities as they are rebuilt. One US official described the proposed approach as an effort to “mow the lawn.”

The renewed military threats come after the Trump administration shifted much of its pressure campaign toward economic measures, launching an “economic onslaught” against Iran’s trade partners under Operation Economic Outcast.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that Washington plans to roll out new secondary sanctions every week against foreign banks and companies that continue doing business with Iran, warning allies and rivals alike that they could be cut off from the US financial system.

“You’re either with us or you’re with the Iranians,” Bessent said, adding that Washington is prepared to use “financial violence if we have to.”