The U.S. military launched another wave of attacks against Iran on Wednesday and turned away ships evading its blockade as President Trump vowed to batter the Middle East country for days and promised that Tehran would be defeated “soon.”
Crippling attacks could intensify in the coming week, and he might have to wipe out the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps the way he took on the Islamic State in his first term, Mr. Trump said in a Fox Business interview with Edward Lawrence, who asked him directly about the prospect.
“We’ll have Iran defeated soon. They’ll be defeated soon,” Mr. Trump said during a speech at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
U.S. Central Command said it struck targets in Iran late Wednesday at Mr. Trump’s direction, as part of the administration’s bid to disrupt the regime’s ability to target international vessels in the vital Strait of Hormuz.
American forces also began blocking ships attempting to evade Mr. Trump’s naval blockade of Iranian ports.
U.S. Central Command said it redirected two commercial vessels during the first 17 hours of the blockade.
“The U.S. military remains vigilant and prepared to ensure full compliance,” CENTCOM said on social media.
The U.S. imposed an earlier naval blockade on Iran from April 13 to June 18. The military redirected 140 ships and disabled nine more during that time.
Mr. Trump reimposed the blockade Tuesday amid U.S. frustrations with Iranian negotiators.
The economic pressure is intended to force Tehran to comply with U.S. demands to end the war and constrain the ruling regime’s nuclear ambitions.
Mr. Trump said Tehran remains desperate to strike a deal because it cannot match American might.
“They want to settle so badly. They don’t like what we’re doing,” Mr. Trump said in Pennsylvania. “We’ll find out whether or not we settle with them or if we just finish it off.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Wednesday that Tehran has no immediate desire to hold talks with the U.S., according to the state-affiliated Islamic Republic News Agency.
“For now, we are focused on defense,” he said.
Mr. Trump said the Iranians continue to reach out.
“We received a call just as we were coming here,” Mr. Trump told Fox Business Network. “They want to meet. They always want to meet.”
Both nations say the other side violated the terms of a mid-June memorandum of understanding that was supposed to set the stage for a final peace deal that would prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“The only way you can negotiate with these people is through strength, and the only strength is military strength,” Mr. Trump told Fox News’ Trey Yingst in a sit-down interview Tuesday.
Mr. Trump said the U.S. degraded Iran’s military and warned of escalating operations in the days ahead.
“Next week it gets really bad for them, because next week comes the power plants, next week comes the bridges,” the president said. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
Mr. Trump says his ultimate goal is to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
However, the conflict, now in its fifth month, is taking an economic toll. The price of Brent crude oil rose again to more than $80 per barrel Wednesday as turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz threatens supplies.
Wall Street mostly shrugged off the renewed violence, with stocks buoyed by strong chipmaker performance and lighter-than-expected inflation reports this week.
The average U.S. gasoline price rose Wednesday to $3.89, up 10 cents from a week ago, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge report. That was 31% higher than at the start of the war on Feb. 28.
Democrats are capitalizing on high prices before the November midterm elections.
“The hole Donald Trump keeps digging himself into in Iran has turned into a chasm,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Wednesday.
Mr. Schumer said Democrats would continue to find ways to pump the brakes on Mr. Trump’s war powers and ability to fund the war.
“We will not act like a rubber stamp when our servicemen are in harm’s way abroad, and Americans are getting crushed financially and at the gas pump here at home,” he said. “No way.”
Overseas, the Iranian military continued its attacks against regional U.S. military targets. Bahrain and Jordan reported more strikes from Iranian drones and missiles.
The Bahrain Defense Force said its air defense system intercepted a barrage of Iranian drones and missiles on Wednesday. It said the strikes were targeting civilian sites.
The Bahraini military reported no casualties but warned citizens to avoid approaching debris from intercepted missiles and drones.
Iran’s military also said it targeted U.S. military installations in Jordan.
Iranian state-controlled media reported that Iranian forces launched a wave of “suicide drone strikes” against the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, an installation used by the U.S. for F-18 operations.
Jordan’s military said its air defenses intercepted three ballistic missiles from Iran, resulting in no deaths, injuries or material damage.
U.S. Central Command rejected Iranian claims that U.S. forces struck a wheat storage facility in Hoveyzeh.
“This is FALSE,” CENTCOM said on social media, adding it targeted only military sites. “Meanwhile, Iran has targeted innocent civilians transiting the strait and in neighboring Gulf countries.”
• Kerry Picket contributed to this report.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.