JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that attacks on Iran would continue and intensify in the coming days, warning that the US would start targeting the country's power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran returned to the negotiating table.
"We hit them very, very hard. We hit everything they had along the coast, along the seafront. They will continue to attack until I say it's enough," Trump said in an interview with Fox News, as reported by Anadolu (15/7).
When asked if he was considering attacking energy targets, he replied: "I will discuss energy targets at the end, but in the end we will attack energy targets."
"We're going to hit them very hard tonight. We're going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. We're going to hit them very hard the night after that. And then next week, it's going to be very bad for them, because next week there's going to be a power plant. Next week there's going to be a bridge. We're going to destroy all their power plants. We're going to destroy all their bridges unless they want to sit at the negotiating table and negotiate," he added.
President Trump said he believed Iran "has no choice" but to make a deal, adding US representatives had contacted Iranian officials recently about an hour before the interview.
"They want to make a deal. You better make a deal. You won't have anyone left," he said.
President Trump said the US wants to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, adding: "I'll charge, but instead they (the Gulf countries) prefer to spend a lot of money in the United States, which is honestly better, because I don't like the idea of charges. The strait must remain free because if it is not, other countries will do the same thing."
"The only way you can negotiate with these people is through force, and the only force is military force - and that's what we've done," he explained.
"Two days ago, we had an agreement, and then they canceled it at the last minute," he said.
The comments came after US Central Command (US CENTCOM) said on Tuesday that US forces launched the latest attack to "continue to degrade Iranian capabilities used to attack merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz."
US CENTCOM later announced that the US had resumed its naval blockade of Iran, saying more than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft were operating throughout the Middle East.
It is known that tensions have escalated between the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, with both sides attacking each other despite a Pakistani-mediated memorandum of understanding aimed at ending their conflict and reaching a lasting peace agreement.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday it had destroyed a number of US weapons and drones in attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait.
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