Trump threatens to hit Iran ’hard again tonight’ after saying ceasefire ’is over’

NDTV - US President Donald Trump today (Wednesday 8) gave Iran a "warning" and said that the United States will strike the Islamic Republic "very hard" tonight. He also stated that he was unhappy with Iran, hours after declaring that the ceasefire was over following attacks on American military sites in the Gulf.

"We hit them very hard last night. Very, very hard. We'll probably hit them hard again tonight. I'll give them a little warning. We're going to hit them hard tonight," Trump said while speaking during a NATO Summit appearance in Ankara, Turkey.

"They are behaving very badly," he said, accusing the country of launching drones and a missile at ships.

On the sidelines of the NATO Summit, Trump claimed that the war happened for the denuclearisation of Iran, and even though the two parties would talk about it during meetings, the Islamic Republic would go into news conferences and announce that such talks never happened.

"I think we've made a lot of progress, and they'll get out of the room; we'll talk about it like we're here, they'll agree on everything, and then they'll go have a news conference and say, 'We never even talked about it,"' he said.

"They're cuckoo. There's something wrong with these people, and for 47 years, they've been the bully of the Middle East, and they're not the bully anymore; they're not the bully anymore, and all we want, it's very simple, they can't have a nuclear weapon. That's what I'm there for," he added.

Later on, he said that the US could "knock out more boats tonight" and take out electricity and water. However, he turned back on the claims and said he does not want to do that.

Earlier in the day, Trump said that the interim memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran is "over", but he will allow talks to continue.

Trump's remarks came hours after the United States launched massive strikes on Iranian assets in the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, as well as on Qeshm Island, in retaliation for what it said were Tehran's attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.