Donald Trump has revealed the “big mistake” made by Iran, insisting the US military have been “knocking the hell out of them”. Speaking from the Oval Office today the US President faced questions about whether he regretted lifting some sanctions on Iran following the regime’s recent actions and attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.
The 80-year-old leader replied, “No, I gave them a chance.”
“I wanted to give them a chance at making a deal,” he added. He then went on to say that Iran had “shot first”, which he called a “big mistake”.
Trump said: “You know, we had a deal two days ago. It was done.
“And then all of a sudden, they couldn’t do it. They didn’t like something about the deal. They couldn’t do it.
“And they shot first. And that was a big mistake that they shot first because we have been knocking the hell out of them. They’re very difficult people.”
Trump then told reporters at the White House that the US has “taken away almost all of their military capabilities”. Overnight, the US and Iran traded military strikes as Washington launched attacks for a third straight night following the breakdown of a 60-day ceasefire.
According to the US military, the strikes were aimed at Iranian military targets in retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
In the early hours, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had completed a five-hour airstrike of key Iranian targets Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas to ‘further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping’.
They targeted ‘coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities’, CENTCOM added.
Iranian state media said several explosions occurred near port cities throughout the day. Earlier, Iran announced that it had carried out strikes against US facilities in Bahrain and Jordan.
Trump has also abandoned his earlier threat to impose a 20% charge on cargo shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, stating that trade deals with Gulf nations will take its place.
He said: “The Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran – and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION.
“We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo.”
