Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
After Iran retaliated by attacking US military bases in Jordan following American strikes on Iranian launchers on Larak Island, President Donald Trump has warned Tehran of a fresh military response in a dangerous new escalation in a conflict that had largely shifted towards economic pressure but could again spiral into open fighting.
Trump told Fox News that the US would respond to the Iranian attacks, according to Trey Yingst, who spoke to the US President by phone.
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“We’re going to hit them hard,” Yingst quoted Trump as saying. “There will be a response,” Trump added.
TRUMP SAYS US DEFENCES INTERCEPTED MISSILES
According to Yingst’s account of his conversation with Trump, the US President said US air defence systems intercepted all but one of the Iranian missiles. Trump said the missile that was not intercepted had been identified as not being on course to hit anything significant, and US forces therefore allowed it to pass through the airspace.
The Iranian strikes were the first major exchange of fire between the two sides in a month. Authorities in Jordan and the UAE said the Iranian weapons were either intercepted or fell without causing damage.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that the overnight exchanges were “limited and contained confrontation”, but warned Tehran would respond harshly if Iran came under further attack. The situation is likely to deteriorate if Washington launches another strike.
US STRUCK IRANIAN LAUNCHERS ON LARAK ISLAND
The latest escalation followed a US attack on Iran’s Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the news agency, American forces struck two Iranian launchers after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the strategically important waterway.
The US Central Command described the action as “limited, precise” strikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces involved in minelaying and said they posed an “imminent threat” in the strait. Iranian media reported casualties from the US strike, with Tasnim news agency reporting that three people were killed. State-affiliated Nournews said two of those killed had been identified as members of the Revolutionary Guards Navy.
Iranian state television also reported that a supertanker had caught fire after being struck by two naval mines in the southern part of the strait. The US military later denied the claim.
Larak is a small Iranian island located near Bandar Abbas, close to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy shipments.
TRUMP SAYS SANCTIONS ARE ‘KICKING IN STRONGLY’
Alongside his military warning, Trump said US economic pressure on Tehran was beginning to have a significant effect.
Yingst said Trump told him that Iran wants to negotiate but that the president was uncertain whether he could rely on Tehran to reach a deal. Trump also pointed to US sanctions against the Iranian regime, saying they were “kicking in strongly”. Washington has increasingly relied on economic measures to pressure Iran, including secondary sanctions targeting third countries and businesses that purchase Iranian oil.
Trump had also posted two videos on social media showing explosions apparently engulfing Iran’s main oil export terminal, Kharg Island. He accompanied the posts with the message: “Kharg island being blown to smithereens!!!”
However, the videos were AI-generated and did not show an actual US attack on Kharg Island. Iran dismissed Trump’s post as “laughable”.
Vice President JD Vance said Trump “likes to switch it up on social media a little bit” and was “sending a message” to Iran. Washington has so far largely avoided attacking Iran’s major oil and gas infrastructure, while Tehran has warned that such strikes would trigger devastating attacks against US allies and other Gulf countries.
IRAN SAYS IT STILL WANTS A NEGOTIATED END
The latest exchange threatens to undo a period in which the conflict had increasingly become an economic confrontation rather than sustained direct military action.
Trump had called off the intensive bombing campaign of his “Operation Epic Fury” in April with a ceasefire, while the two sides later agreed in June on an interim framework for further talks. That arrangement failed to hold, followed by further exchanges of fire, including two weeks of US bombing in July. Over the past month, Washington has sought to use a blockade of Iranian ports and escalating sanctions to force Tehran to accept US demands. Iran, meanwhile, has maintained that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and would only reopen under its supervision.
Despite the latest military escalation, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a more conciliatory tone on Monday during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Pezeshkian as saying: “… we believe that continuing the war is in no one’s interest, neither ours, nor the region’s, nor humanity’s.”
Trump, however, has yet to achieve the objectives he set at the beginning of the conflict, including dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme, restricting its ability to attack its Gulf rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.
– Ends
With inputs from agencies
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
