US bombing to ‘get much worse’ if Iran doesn’t halt attacks: Trump
The US military said on Wednesday that it was launching fresh strikes on Iran aimed at keeping the critical Strait of Hormuz open to traffic.
US President Donald Trump reacts as he speaks to the media on the day of a NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara on Jul 8, 2026. (File photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)
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DUBAI: US President Donald Trump warned Wednesday (Jul 8) that the bombing of Iran will increase significantly if Tehran continues to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” the US president posted on social media over a picture of an apparent bombing of a site in Iran.
The US military said on Wednesday that it was launching fresh strikes on Iran aimed at keeping the critical Strait of Hormuz open to traffic, hours after US President Donald Trump declared that an interim agreement to end the war with Iran was “over“.
The latest round of attacks, which the United States said was launched in response to Tuesday’s assault on three cargo ships transiting the strait, rattled several cities along Iran’s southern coast and left some areas without power.
“US Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM, the US military’s Middle East command, wrote on X.
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“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”
Control of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil supplies pass, has given Tehran immense leverage, effectively allowing it to force a stalemate with the world’s most powerful military. While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to create leverage as it negotiates a long-term deal with the US.
The latest escalation dented hopes of turning a memorandum of understanding signed on Jun 17 into a permanent peace deal to end the war, which began with US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Feb 28. Iran said on Wednesday it had attacked US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to earlier US strikes.
Asked before a NATO summit in Turkey whether the memorandum of understanding was over, Trump said: “It’s a very interesting question. To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them.”
“If we make a deal with Iran I’m not sure that will stick,” Trump later said. “I found them to be very dishonourable people.”
But Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to escalate military action before backing off, said he did not expect a return to full-fledged war, and that it was not clear whether the negotiations on reaching a permanent deal would continue.
Iran’s state news agency reported sounds of explosions in several areas on Iran’s southern coast on the Gulf, including at the port of Bandar Abbas, and in the cities of Chabahar and Konarak, and that electricity had been cut off in parts of Chabahar.
Nournews, affiliated with Iran’s top security body, cited an Iranian military source as saying that Iran was planning to soon launch a “massive attack” on US Army bases in the region in retaliation.
Source: Agencies/fs/rj/rl
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