Trump says US ready to strike Iran 'any time we want'

Trump vows continued strikes on Iranian military assets

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington stands ready to launch further attacks against Iran "any time we want," claiming American forces had carried out heavy strikes against Tehran's military equipment overnight. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump asserted that the US has "controlled, and we are controlling the Hormuz Strait" and is bringing oil tankers through the strategic waterway without major difficulties. "We are, for the most part, doing it without trouble," he said, adding that Tehran had been attempting to rebuild radar and missile systems capable of threatening navigation.

Overnight operations target 'new equipment'

Trump claimed US forces detected Iranian efforts to develop mine-laying capabilities and destroyed the newly constructed systems along the waterway. "We hit them hard last night, very hard," Trump said, describing the targets as including both defensive and offensive capabilities. "We took out all of the new equipment that they tried to build along the Strait of Hormuz," he added, stating that Washington was prepared to strike again and reiterating that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon.

Iranian retaliation and stalled diplomacy

The US Central Command announced late Tuesday that it had launched strikes against IRGC targets in Iran, prompting Iranian media to report explosions on Qeshm Island and in Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Chabahar and Konarak. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked several US military facilities in neighboring countries, including Kuwait, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq. Asked about renaming the waterway the "Trump Strait," the president replied: "I was just throwing that out," as Washington and Tehran remain locked in clashes that resumed in July after a June 18 memorandum of understanding stalled over implementation differences.