Trump Vows to Hit Iran 'Hard' After Fresh Strikes and US-Iran Clashes

Donald Trump has threatened to hit Iran “hard” after the US and Iran exchanged fire for the first time in a month, warning that “there will be a response” following Iranian missile strikes on US military bases.

Iran launched its strikes targeting US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates following US attacks on Larak Island, the first American strikes on the Islamic Republic since late July.

Despite the renewed hostilities, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian has emphasised that Tehran is still seeking a negotiated solution to its conflict with the US.

Trump also warned earlier that the American military may still “smack” Iran despite it being a “failed nation”.

Meanwhile, the US president posted an AI-generated video of Kharg Island being “blown to smithereens.”

A US official told Reuters that no such attack had taken place on Kharg Island. US Central Command said that “limited, precise action” had been launched “against IRGC minelaying forces”.

Hamid Bovard, the chief executive of government-run National Iranian Oil Co, insisted oil operations had not stopped on the island and called Trump’s post on Truth Social “laughable”.

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian has told Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif that continuing the war was not in Iran’s interest and said Tehran remained willing to implement a US-Iran memorandum of understanding mediated by Pakistan in June.

He spoke with Sharif on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan on Monday.

Meanwhile, Iranian state TV said the escalation between the US and Tehran followed a tanker hitting two Iranian naval mines while trying to pass through the southern Strait of Hormuz.

It said three ships had been targeted for using an unauthorised route.

The IRGC warned other vessels that they must comply with Iran’s rules for passage or face the same fate.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said Washington’s sanctions campaign is putting severe pressure on Iran’s economy and could trigger an economic collapse within months unless Tehran agrees to negotiations.

Bessent said: “I would think that they are lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically.”

He added that “within weeks or months” the Iranian economy could collapse, though he stressed that this “does not have to happen”, saying: “We just have to have the regime come to their senses.”

Bessent also warned that the US plans to impose new sanctions every week, targeting banks and potentially cutting institutions off from the dollar-based financial system.

“You’re going to see a lot more of these every week,” he said.

Iran has denied Donald Trump’s claim that Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub, was being “blown to smithereens”, calling his posts “laughable”.

“Trump's tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate,” National Iranian Oil Company chief Hamid Bovard was cited as saying by Nournews.

Trump had shared an AI video of the attack on Kharg Island earlier on his Truth Social.

Bovard said the island remained calm and oil operations had continued without interruption despite repeated US and Israeli attacks.

Kharg handles about 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as renewed fighting between the US and Iran heightened fears of disruptions to crude supplies from the oil-rich Middle East.

Brent crude futures gained 56 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $91.05 a barrel by 0044 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 83 cents, or 1 per cent, to $86.59 a barrel.

JD Vance has said the US military is “big enough” to handle threats, despite reports of munitions shortages.

“Are you concerned about reports of weapon shortages, the strain on the forces? Is the U.S. Military big enough to handle threats around the world, including China?” Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson asked the US vice president in a new interview.

“Look, we're clearly big enough to handle threats around the world, including China”, Vance replied. “As the president has said, we want to have a positive relationship with the PRC [People’s Republic of China]”.

A handful of high-profile conservative influencers have reportedly been working as undisclosed government employees and using their huge social media followings to praise US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and defend the Trump administration’s policies.

Among them are Rob Maness, a retired Army Air Force colonel with more than 130,000 followers on X, and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel with more than 600,000 followers on X, according to the Washington Post.

Maness and Schlichter have active government email addresses ending in “.civ” – meaning they are civilian employees – and are assigned to the Defense Department’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, sources told the Post.

Yet neither influencer has disclosed that they are working for, or did work for, the Pentagon, the Post reported. Even while they were advocating for Hegseth to fire critics at the department, backing Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and defending the Defense Secretary’s spending on a luxury dinner.

Donald Trump has threatened to “hit them hard” after the US and Iran exchanged fire for the first time in a month, warning that “there will be a response” following Iranian missile strikes on US military bases in Jordan.

He called Iran “officially a failed nation without an airforce, a navy or a currency”.

The latest escalation began when US forces struck two Iranian missile launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran was preparing to deploy naval mines in the crucial waterway.

Iran retaliated by targeting US bases, while the UAE said it intercepted an Iranian drone.

The renewed fighting comes as Washington intensifies sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s economy and seeks to loosen Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, the White House said Monday, in the latest departure of a top military leader during the Trump administration.

Driscoll and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s working relationship had endured months of tension during his time in the job, reported Reuters and CNN.

No reason was given for the departure of Driscoll, who is a friend of Vice President JD Vance, but tensions with Hegseth have been widely reported. It marks the latest in a series of shakeups of the military leadership, with the Army especially seeing major upheaval.

Retired US Army Major General Randy Manner has warned that the US is “much weaker than we were even before 9/11”.

Manner spoke out against US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for reportedly purging top Pentagon officials.

“Quite frankly, the secretary of defense has got to go,” Manner told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

Manner’s comments come as Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned following reported tensions with Hegseth.