Trump hardens tone against Iran, says ‘may keep going’ with strikes

After insisting for weeks that a peace deal between the United States and Iran is close, President Donald Trump has escalated his rhetoric against Tehran, suggesting that time has run out to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

On Tuesday, the US military began striking targets inside Iran in response to the overnight downing of a helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has since suggested that the US attacks may continue.

“I may keep going,” the US president told Fox News on Wednesday. “They had a chance to sign a deal and survive.”

Iran responded to the US strikes by launching missiles against bases that host US forces in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

While such back-and-forth attacks over the past few weeks have remained contained and wrapped up quickly, Trump’s comments suggest that the latest episode of fighting may not be over. That, in turn, has raised questions about whether the April 8 ceasefire has unravelled.

Trump told Fox News that Iran is “tapping the US along” with talks that have not led to a long-term agreement. He renewed his threat to bomb the country’s power plants and bridges, despite concerns that attacking civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime.

Earlier in the day, he also wrote on his Truth Social platform that Iran has been “completely defeated”.

“They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price,” Trump said.

Iranian officials have stressed that they will not sign an agreement that does not recognise their country’s “rights”.

Tehran has also suggested that it is not afraid to return to war.

Despite Trump’s assertion that Iran is militarily defeated, Tehran has been able to respond to US attacks and maintain its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent energy prices soaring.

On Wednesday, Haji Babaei, deputy speaker of the Iranian parliament, said diplomacy will work only when the “demands of the Iranian nation” are met.

“America will lose in the economic and military war,” Babaei was quoted as saying by the state news agency, IRNA.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also said that Iran “must move” beyond the current state of “no war, no peace” in the region, but he stressed that his country “will not yield” in the face of threats.