US launches further strikes in Iran after Trump promised ‘very hard’ response
U.S. launches – The U.S. carried out new strikes against Iran late Wednesday, beginning at 5:15 p.m. ET, after President Donald Trump said the military would hit Iran “very hard.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the action as leverage to pressure Iran into negotiating a
Late Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. started its next round of strikes against Iran—an escalation launched on a promise from President Donald Trump that the response would be “very hard.”
U.S. Central Command said the attacks began at 5:15 p.m. ET, which it translated to 12:45 a.m. Thursday in Iran. The New York Times reported explosions were heard in Qeshm and Kish Islands near the Strait of Hormuz. Cities including Minab and Sirik also reported strikes.
Before the first explosions, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was already tying the action to bargaining leverage. Speaking to reporters in Florida shortly before the strikes began, he said the new attacks were meant to pressure Iran into negotiating a more agreeable peace deal with the United States.
“If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs,” Hegseth said. “And we’re very good at it. Nobody better in the world.”
The timing came after a tense chain of events across the Strait of Hormuz. The day before the strikes, the U.S. said Iran downed an Army Apache helicopter over the strait on Monday. On Truth Social Wednesday morning. Trump wrote that Iran would “pay the price” because it took too long to negotiate a deal. He also attacked Iran’s military. saying. “Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess. ” adding that “Much of it. like their Navy and Air Force. doesn’t even exist anymore – They have been completely defeated. ” and that Iran is “all talk and no action.”.
Iran’s response to the proposed attacks was swift. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized the U.S. threat, saying it signaled the U.S. was threatening to target civilian infrastructure in its latest strikes.
“Critical infrastructures are the lifeblood of the people,” he wrote. “Threats to target them—from transportation networks to the electricity and water industries—are not a show of strength but a sign of desperation in the face of a nation’s will.”
Pezeshkian added that Iran would “stand firm against any pressure or threat.”
The U.S. strikes also unfolded amid a separate controversy involving maritime action in the same strategic corridor. The U.S. military claimed responsibility for disabling an oil tanker on Wednesday it said violated the American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The ship was owned by Palau, a small island country in Oceania. India condemned the attack and said three of the crew were still missing.
The sequence is hard to miss: a week of warnings and retaliatory claims around the Strait of Hormuz, followed by language about bargaining “with bombs,” then strikes starting at a specific hour—while Iran warns that civilian infrastructure is in the crosshairs and promises it will not yield.
United States Iran Donald Trump Pete Hegseth U.S. Central Command Masoud Pezeshkian Strait of Hormuz Army Apache Qeshm Island Kish Island Palau oil tanker India blockade