‘Hit them hard again tonight’: Trump gives ‘a little warning’ to Iran as war situation escalates again
Donald Trump warns that the US may ‘hit Iran hard again tonight’, declaring that the ceasefire is effectively over as Gulf attacks and Strait of Hormuz tensions escalate.
Sitting in Ankara, attending the NATO summit, US President Donald Trump has been harping on the renewal of war with Iran rhetoric. Initially he declared that the ceasefire with Tehran was ‘over’, following it up with “a little” warning that US might hit Iran tonight (8 July).
President Donald Trump said the US would launch further strikes on Iran, ratcheting up pressure on Tehran and raising the prospect of a return to all-out war.
Quick answers to key questions
Trump declared that the ceasefire agreement with Iran was effectively over and described dealing with Tehran as 'a waste of time'.
The US strikes on Iran were retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which had disrupted international shipping.
The US Central Command conducted strikes on Iranian military targets, including air defense systems and small boats, to degrade Iran's capabilities to threaten maritime traffic.
Revoking the oil waiver results in reinstated sanctions on Iranian oil exports, which could lead to increased oil prices and affect global energy markets.
Yes, other nations should be concerned as the conflict threatens to disrupt oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, impacting global energy security.
“We hit them very hard last night,” Trump said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. “Probably hit them hard again tonight.”
“I’ll give a little warning,” he added. “But we’ll see how it all works out. No, I’m not happy with them.”
Trump spoke hours after the US launched strikes on Iran and revoked a waiver that allowed Tehran to sell its oil globally, measures Washington said were in response to attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz that it blamed on the Islamic Republic.
The latest US strikes on Iran had “a tremendous impact”, Trump told reporters in Ankara, claiming they destroyed radar systems Tehran was rebuilding, providing no evidence for his claims.
He warned the US could escalate further. “Their electric manufacturing facilities, electric plants… if we have to, we’ll take them out,” and added, “Desalination plants … we’ll take them out if we have to. I hate to do that.”
'We hit them very hard': Trump warns Iran of more strikes
Asked whether the conflict was entering another phase, Trump indicated that military action was far from over.
"We hit them very hard last night," Trump said. "Probably hit them hard again tonight."
He added, "I'll give a little warning. But we'll see how it all works out. No, I'm not happy with them."
Later, Trump reiterated that the latest strikes were retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial vessels operating in the Strait of Hormuz.
"They are behaving very badly," he said, accusing Iran of launching drones and missiles at ships.
The President also declared that the ceasefire agreement had effectively collapsed.
"For me, I think it's over," Trump said when asked about the status of the truce. Although he said negotiations could continue, he questioned their value, adding: "They can talk, but I think they're wasting their time."
Trump says US may ‘de-nuclearlise’ Iran ‘without a deal’
“It’s de-nuclearisation of Iran,” the US president said of what the US’s goals are in Iran, expressing frustration with the Iranian negotiating team, saying that it “lied” about what was discussed during closed-door meetings.
“I don’t even know if we’re going to have a deal, we may just do it without a deal, because you know what? It’s easier,” Trump said, without elaborating on how the US would achieve its aims outside of negotiation.
US strikes target Iranian military infrastructure
According to US Central Command, American forces struck a series of Iranian military targets intended to reduce Tehran's ability to threaten maritime traffic. The operation reportedly targeted air defence systems, radar installations and more than 60 small boats operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Those fast attack craft have been central to Iran's ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict. The latest escalation immediately rattled global energy markets, with Brent crude prices climbing more than 5 per cent after Trump's comments heightened concerns about further disruption to oil supplies.
US Central Command said the military remained "prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed", while adding that the latest wave of strikes had concluded.
Iranian state media reported explosions in Bandar Mahshahr, where a Revolutionary Guard member was killed, as well as attacks near Bushehr, home to one of Iran's principal nuclear facilities.
Iran retaliates as Bahrain and Kuwait activate missile alerts
Hours after the American strikes, Bahrain and Kuwait activated air raid sirens and missile alerts as Iran acknowledged launching attacks on US military installations in both Gulf states.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted American bases, while Kuwaiti authorities reported intercepting two ballistic missiles and 13 drones. Kuwait's Electricity Ministry said falling debris damaged several power lines.
Oil waiver revoked as Strait of Hormuz tensions deepen
Alongside the military action, the Trump administration revoked a licence that had temporarily allowed Iran to conduct oil sales openly in US dollars under the interim ceasefire arrangement.
The move followed fresh attacks on commercial vessels. One tanker sailing off the coast of Oman caught fire after being struck, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre. Iranian state television reported that the vessel had ignored repeated warnings but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack.
Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, said the tanker was transporting Qatari natural gas and described the incident as "an unacceptable attack" on international navigation and global energy security. He added that Qatar held Iran "fully legally responsible".
About the Author
Sayantani Biswas is an assistant editor at Livemint with seven years of experience covering geopolitics, foreign policy, international relations and global power dynamics. She reports on Indian and international politics, including elections worldwide, and specialises in historically grounded analysis of contemporary conflicts and state decisions. She joined Mint in 2021, after covering politics at publications including The Telegraph. <br> She holds an MPhil in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University (2019), with a specialisation in postcolonial Latin American literature. Her research examined economic nationalism through Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America. She also writes on political language, cultural memory and the long shadows of conflict. <br> Biswas grew up in Durgapur, an industrial town in West Bengal shaped by migration, which drew families from across India to the Durgapur Steel Plant. As the only child in a joint family, she spent years listening—almost obsessively—to her grandparents’ testimonies of struggle, fear and loss as they fled Bangladesh during the Partition of 1947. This formative exposure to lived historical memory later converged with her training in Comparative Literature, equipping her to analyse socio-economic structures and their reverberations. <br> Outside the newsroom, she gravitates towards cultural history and critical theory, returning often to texts such as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. As a journalist, she is committed to accuracy, intellectual rigour and fairness, and believes political reporting demands not only clarity and speed, but historical depth, contextual precision, and a disciplined resistance to spectacle.
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