Middle East war: US and Iran clash in Strait of Hormuz as ceasefire comes under strain

Donald Trump threatened Iran with “a lot of pain” if Tehran does not make a deal with Washington.

The US president said the US and Iran were still negotiating, but that it was not clear if the warring countries would reach a deal.

“We’re negotiating with the Iranians,”Trump said on Thursday. A deal “might not happen, but it could happen any day”.

“They better sign their agreement fast,” he said. “If it doesn’t get signed, they’re going to have a lot of pain.

His comments came after American forces struck Iranian targets in southern Iran in retaliation for attacks on US naval ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump described the exchange of fire as a “trifle”. “They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle.”

The US president said that he would not need to announce any cessation of the ceasefire because “you’re going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran.”

The US carried out more air strikes on Iran in response to “unprovoked Iranian attacks” on American forces, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

The US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said Iran had launched missiles, drones and small boats at three American destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.

US forces “intercepted” the attacks and “eliminated inbound threats”, Centcom said, but added that it did not seek “escalation”.

The US hit targets in southern Iran, according to a US official, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes.

Iran’s military said the US had launched air strikes against an Iranian tanker and another ship that was travelling towards the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Washington of violating a fragile ceasefire.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters also accused the US of conducting air strikes in areas along the coast, including Bandar Khamir, Sirik and Qeshm Island, saying it acted “with the co-operation of some regional countries”. It said Iranian forces responded by attacking US warships.

The air strikes appeared to be one of the most significant US military assaults on Iranian targets since the warring parties agreed to the ceasefire on April 8.

Donald Trump said the US would hit Iran “a lot more violently” if Tehran does not sign a peace deal, after launching strikes at targets in southern Iran as tensions rose in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US president issued his threat on Thursday, after US and Iranian forces exchanged fire in the strategic waterway.

Trump confirmed that Iran had attacked three US destroyers. “A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal Country,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!” he said.

The exchange of fire between the US and Iran came as the two countries are discussing a possible framework for a peace deal.

US President Donald Trump has said the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran remains intact, following an exchange of fire between American and Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz.

The American strikes on military facilities in southern Iran — which the US military said were in retaliation for unprovoked Iranian attacks on three warships — were “just a love tap”, Trump told ABC News.

“The ceasefire is going. It’s in effect,” he added.