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DUBAI/WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Iran had taken too long to negotiate a deal and would now “have to pay the price”, while Tehran said it would reassess diplomatic engagement with Washington after overnight tit-for-tat strikes.
Iran launched missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain in what it called retaliation for American strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz.
The exchange of fire, which came after Trump said Iran had downed a U.S. Apache helicopter near the strait, marks one of the most significant escalations since Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in April.
“Iran is all talk and no action,” Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday. “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”
Later on Wednesday, Trump told reporters: “We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard.”
Oil prices rose and stock markets fell after his remarks.
The U.S. military said it had targeted Iranian air defences, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites in what it described as a “proportional response” to the downing of the helicopter, whose two crew members were rescued by a drone boat.
Asked about Iran’s attacks on American bases, a U.S. official told Reuters: “No significant damage. No harm to U.S. personnel. Nearly all missiles and drones were intercepted or failed to reach their intended target.”
The escalation – just days after Iran exchanged strikes with Israel for the first time since the ceasefire – casts fresh doubt on prospects for a deal to end the war, which began on February 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
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