Trump vows to 'hit Iran hard' after Iranian attacks on US bases in Jordan and UAE

President Donald Trump has said that he will “hit Iran hard” tonight in retaliation for Iranian strikes on US military bases in Jordan.

The US leader is reported to have told Fox News: “We’re going to hit them hard. There will be a response.”

Iran has hit back at the US president after he posted an AI-generated video of Kharg Island being “blown to smithereens.”

The US Defence Department was forced to deny that the US had struck Iran’s primary oil export hub, with an official confirming that strikes had exclusively targeted IRGC positions on Larak Island.

Hamid Bovard, the chief executive of government-run National Iranian Oil Co, insisted oil operations had not stopped on the island, saying: “Trump’s tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate.”

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

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

Watch: Iranian state media releases footage of missiles being launched at US targets

President Donald Trump has said that he will “hit Iran hard” in retaliation for Iranian strikes on US military bases in Jordan.

The US leader is reported to have told Fox News: “We’re going to hit them hard. There will be a response.”

The US Defence Department was forced to deny that the US had struck Iran’s primary oil export hub, with an official confirming that strikes had exclusively targeted IRGC positions on Larak Island.

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

The US-Iran war is set to deal a severe financial blow to UK families, cutting into average household spending power by £2,400 over the next two years.

According to new analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a combination of surging inflation and sluggish wage growth is estimated to knock £1,100 off average real household incomes in 2026, followed by an additional £1,300 loss in 2027.

In total, the think tank calculates that the Middle East conflict will wipe a staggering £70.4 billion off the UK’s real disposable income.

UK households will suffer £2,400 hit from Iran war, analysis shows

The conflict is continuing to ‘squeeze’ the British economy, thinktanks warn

The Pentagon’s spokesman is facing backlash for falsely claiming that it is a “crime” for journalists to publish classified information following a report that some military leaders were critical of extending President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.

A classified Pentagon assessment reviewed by The Washington Post reportedly advised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that prolonging the conflict in Iran was weakening the U.S. elsewhere, including on home soil.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted a furious response to the report on social media before he was fact-checked by X-users, reporters and lawmakers

President Donald Trump was sending a message to Iran with his social media post about Kharg Island, Vice President JD Vance said on Monday.

“The president likes to switch it up on social media a little bit. He would be the first to say he doesn't make announcements about military actions on social media, but I think that he's sending a message to the Iranians,” Vance said when asked about Trump's post.

The Pentagon was forced to deny that the attack took place after Trump alleged that the oil export hub had been “blown to smithereens”.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said that the goal of US sanctions on Iran is “to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table” for negotiations.

Bessent said Iran’s economy could collapse in a matter of weeks, telling reporters: “We have the blockade, and we are going to continue exerting pressure, and we’ve had very good discussions here already,”

“I think it could be within weeks or months,” he said, but added, “the economy doesn’t have to collapse ... we just have to have the regime come to their senses.”

The island holds around 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports and could choke off the country’s economy for years. Maira Butt and James C. Reynolds report:

Iran’s Achilles Heel: Why Trump has his sights on the tiny oil hub Kharg Island

The island holds around 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports and could choke off the country’s economy for years. Maira Butt and James C. Reynolds report

The first military action in the Middle East in more than a month has sent oil prices surging by more than 3 per cent

Brent crude oil rose above $90 after the US’s attack on Sunday broke a lull in fighting in the six-month long war.

Meanwhile, the futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both declined 0.2 per cent on Monday and Nasdaq futures slipped 0.1 per cent.

Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said: “The Middle East had finally gone quiet enough for oil traders to start sanding some of the war premium out of crude.

“Then Sunday arrived, with a reminder that quiet in the Strait of Hormuz is not the same as peace.”

The Defense Department was forced on Monday to deny the U.S. had struck Iran’s main petroleum export facility after President Donald Trump posted a fake but very realistic AI-generated video showing a purported attack by American forces.

The video, posted to the president’s Truth Social account, appears to show oil storage tanks and refineries erupting in flames from the perspective of someone filming from inside a helicopter above the carnage, with an accompanying message describing the scene as “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens” and signed as “President DJT.”

But a U.S. official said no such attack had taken place, with Kharg Island not being among the locations targeted overnight in what has been the first exchange of fire between American and Iranian forces in weeks.

Additionally, the head of National Iranian Oil Co, Hamid Bovard, said on Monday that the president’s post was “laughable” and described conditions on Kharg Island as “calm and appropriate.”

Trump — whose White House has repeatedly stated that his Truth Social posts count as official statements from the commander in chief — also hit out at Iran again in a separate Truth Social post on Monday, writing that it was “officially a Failed Nation” and “DEAD.”

President’s very realistic AI slop video, posted to his official Truth Social account, forces Pentagon to step in with a denial