Trump says US will hit Iran 'hard' again today

8 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on Google Jaroslav Lukivand Amy Walker EPA President Donald Trump has said the US will hit Iran "hard" on Wednesday, after the two sides exchanged strikes overnight. "We hit them hard yesterday and we're going to hit them hard again today," he said, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X following Trump's briefing that Iran "will stand firm against any pressure or threat". US Central Command (Centcom) said on Wednesday night that forces had begun launching strikes at Eastern Time ( BST) against "multiple targets" in Iran. It added in a post on X that the strikes were "in response to Iran's unwarranted and continued aggression". The US also launched strikes on Iran on Tuesday after Trump said Iran had downed a US Army helicopter. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it responded with strikes on US bases in the region. Trump reiterated a call for Iran to "sign a deal" during his briefing on Wednesday, while US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters later that day that bombs would be "dropping on key facilities in Iran". He added: "President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard and we will be". Earlier on Wednesday Trump wrote on his social media account: "They've taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!" He said Iran had been "completely defeated" militarily. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqai meanwhile accused the US of "damaging this diplomatic process through the contradictory messages it sends, its repeated shifts in positions and demands, and, worst of all, through repeated violations of the ceasefire". He said Iran needed to re-assess the situation, adding that any diplomatic process required a minimum of stability. Separately on Wednesday, the US military said it had struck an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that had "violated the ongoing blockade ". The Indian government said three Indian sailors were missing and 21 crew had been rescued after an attack on the Settebello off the coast of Oman. The US is blockading Iranian ports after the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route was effectively closed . The Settebello is the eighth ship the US has fired on. Tuesday's US strikes on Iran targeted Iranian defence systems, ground control stations and radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz, Centcom said.