• Trump warns will ‘hit Iran hard’ again; says PM Shehbaz, CDF Munir convinced him to give Tehran ‘a break’
• Pezeshkian vows Tehran will ‘stand firm’ amid threats; spox calls out ‘ceasefire violations’ by Washington
• IRGC says US bases in Kuwait, Jordan struck; US bombs Iranian targets, hits Indian tanker
• Guterres, Russia & China urge calm; Qatari team in Iran for dialogue
TEHRAN / WASHINGTON: After a US helicopter triggered a latest round of tit-for-tat strikes between the United States and Iran, President Trump on Wednesday said Iran will be “hit hard” for taking too long to negotiate a deal that would have ended the weeks of violence.
The US president made these remarks after the US forces struck Iranian targets along the Strait of Hormuz overnight, forcing Iran to strike the US bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain with drones and missiles.
These strikes reignited fears of fresh hostilities as the global powers urged both sides to exercise restraint. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he wanted a “meaningful deal” but he refused to rule out the use of force against Iran. “I’ve been working with Iran for a number of months, and they should sign their deal,” he said. “It’s a good deal, it doesn’t give them the right to have a nuclear weapon, in fact, it totally prohibits them from ever having a nuclear weapon.”
“We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them again hard today,” he said, adding that a deal was close. “We’ll see what happens with the deal. We were really close to a deal. But they keep tapping us along.”
He also mentioned that he “gave them (Iran) a break” at the request of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, calling them “great”. “They’re close to Iran, and they still are working on trying [to get] them to do what’s right,” he added. “We want a deal that’s meaningful; we want a deal that works.”
‘Will stand firm’
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country will “stand firm” amid threats of more attacks against the country. In a post on X, President Pezeshkian also denounced warnings to target Iranian infrastructure. “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,” he said.
Earlier, Fox News reported Trump told them in an interview that he was close to ordering new strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges. In a later media talk, he refused to confirm if the US would bomb Iranian infrastructure.
The Iranian president also said Iran “must move” beyond the current “no war, no peace” situation in the region. “War is certainly not in the country’s interest, but if they seek to violate our dignity, our land, and our territory, we will not surrender,” he said during an event in Tehran, according to state news agency IRNA.
Latest attacks
In a statement published by Iran’s state media on Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it launched drone attacks on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait, as well as a long-range missile strike on an airbase in Azraq, Jordan. According to Al Jazeera, Iran attacked 21 US targets and destroyed four of them, including an F-35 fighter jet hangar at the base in Jordan.
All projectiles were intercepted without casualties in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, the Qatar-based outlet reported. The IRGC warned that its forces remain fully prepared to deliver a “crushing and decisive” response to any US military actions and that Washington would bear full responsibility for the consequences of further escalation.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that long-range ballistic missiles and drones of Iran’s armed forces, by passing through air defence systems, struck approximately 70 per cent of the targets with precision at US bases in West Asia. The Iranian attacks on the Gulf states were denounced by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other regional countries.
The latest flare-up came after US military attacked Qeshm Island and ports along the Iranian coast in the Strait of Hormuz after accusing Iran of downing a US Apache helicopter on Tuesday. Thousands of Iranians in the southern port town of Sirik lost access to drinking water after US strikes hit two reservoirs in the area, Iranian state media said, according to AFP. The strikes damaged two reservoirs supplying Bemani and Kouhestak areas of Sirik town.
As tensions escalate, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of the risk of returning to “full war” in the Middle East after Iran and the United States traded strikes overnight, AFP reported. “We should not minimise the risks of a lesser fire becoming full fire, or in another word — full war,” Mr Guterres said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in the region.
Russia urged “restraint” in the Iran war after Washington and Tehran traded new strikes in the worst escalation since their April 8 ceasefire. “We are extremely concerned about the new round of US-Iranian armed confrontation, which began with the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. We call on both sides to exercise restraint and to immediately cease military attacks,” the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman told reporters.
China said it was “deeply concerned” over the conflict in the Middle East and urged against escalation after Washington carried out strikes on Iran over the downing of a US helicopter, according to AFP. “Various relevant parties should maintain calm and exercise restraint, stop intensifying the conflict and escalating the situation, take concrete measures to ease and cool down tensions,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said diplomatic efforts with the US cannot advance under repeated ceasefire violations. He accused Washington of undermining diplomacy through contradictory messages, shifting positions and repeated ceasefire violations, and said Israel was also damaging the process through repeated ceasefire breaches in Lebanon.
A Qatari delegation also arrived in the Iranian capital to discuss and exchange views on bilateral relations and regional developments, Al Jazeera reported.
US diplomat summoned
Meanwhile, India summoned a top US diplomat in Delhi over a strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman, where three Indians were missing, two Indian sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. India has lodged a “strong protest” with the US deputy chief of mission to the country, Jason Meeks, the sources said. Centcom said it has disabled an oil tanker which has violated Washington’s naval blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran. Centcom has “disabled Palau-flagged M/T Settebello as it transited the Gulf of Oman”, it said in a statement.
Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2026