Washington, United States. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had taken too long to negotiate a deal and would now “have to pay the price,” while Tehran said it would reassess diplomatic engagement with Washington after overnight tit-for-tat strikes.
Retaliatory strikes
Iran launched missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz.
The exchange followed Trump’s statement that Iran had downed a U.S. Apache helicopter near the strait. The incident marked one of the most significant escalations since Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in April.
Statements from Washington
“Iran is all talk and no action,” Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday. “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”
The U.S. military said it had targeted Iranian air defences, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites in what it described as a “proportional response” to the downing of the helicopter. It said the two crew members were rescued.
A U.S. official said nearly 20 Iranian targets were hit. The strikes lasted about four hours, with Central Command saying shortly before 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday that operations had ended.
Regional response
Iran’s Gulf neighbours and Jordan activated air defences to intercept incoming missiles. There were no immediate reports of damage to U.S. bases.
The escalation came days after Iran and Israel exchanged strikes for the first time since the ceasefire, raising further doubt over prospects for a deal to end the war that began on February 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian position
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tehran would “reassess” its diplomatic engagement with Washington after what it called repeated ceasefire violations.
“Any diplomatic process requires a minimum stable environment,” Esmaeil Baghaei said.
