Trump escalates rhetoric as Iran strikes US bases in Gulf after fresh US attacks

US and Iran exchanged strikes across the Gulf on Thursday, following fresh American attacks that US commanders said targeted Iranian military surveillance, communications and air-defence sites. The exchange came as President Donald Trump publicly warned Iran that it would “have to pay the price” after what he described as prolonged stalling in negotiations.

What happened

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American forces launched “additional self-defence strikes” in the early hours in Iran in response to what it called Tehran’s “unwarranted and continued aggression”. CENTCOM later said it had “completed” strikes on “Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites” and that forces “fired precision munitions on Iranian targets that posed a threat to U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters”.

Iranian media reported explosions in southern areas near the Strait of Hormuz, including Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Minab, and sources reported hits by “enemy projectiles” in Kargan and Sirik. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck US targets on bases in Kuwait and Bahrain and claimed to have “hit and destroyed Sheikh Isa air bases”, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Escalatory rhetoric and military responses

President Trump said Wednesday that Iran keeps “playing us for suckers” and would “have to pay the price”. Fox News reported Trump saying US forces had used 49 Tomahawk missiles and quoted him saying “We’ll bomb the S out of them tomorrow night” if Iran did not accept US terms for ending the war. The IRNA news agency reported Iran’s Guards denied that Iranian leaders had called Trump directly in the White House Situation Room.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that if required by the president, “we’ll negotiate with bombs, and we’re very good at it”. Hegseth also suggested the strikes could continue beyond a second night.

Regional effects and warnings

Iran renewed warnings over the Strait of Hormuz. Majid Mousavi, head of the Iranian Guards’ aerospace force, posted on social media: “Are you making the sacred Strait of Hormuz unsafe?! We will make the region hell for you,” according to the report. Iranian agencies said the navy had hit two ships trying to sail through the strait and quoted the military operational command as saying the waterway was “completely closed” and that “any vessel traffic” would be targeted. CENTCOM denied that, saying “commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz tonight”.

Authorities in the Gulf also reported disruptions. Bahrain issued an air raid alert and urged residents to “head to the nearest safe place”, the interior ministry said on X. Kuwait temporarily closed its airspace as its military said air-defence systems were intercepting “hostile aerial targets”. Iranian media said drone strikes had targeted communications antennas and radar facilities linked to the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

Diplomacy, markets and wider context

The exchanges occurred as talks to end the three-month war showed signs of stalling. The conflict began in February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran and a ceasefire took effect on April 8, the report said. A diplomat quoted in the story said Qatari negotiators were travelling to Tehran “to meet with the Iranians in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps”. The renewed hostilities pushed oil prices higher and Asian stocks tracked losses in New York.

International reactions

UN chief Antonio Guterres cautioned against a return to “full war”. Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said “no sustainable deal can be reached through threats, intimidation, or the use of force”. The article noted concerns about the timing of the escalation on the eve of the World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting and Iran is participating in.