US Will Probably Conduct More Strikes Against Iran, Trump Says

U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 8 that the United States would probably prepare another round of strikes against Iran, after saying that the ceasefire was over following Tehran attacking U.S. military sites in the Persian Gulf.“They are behaving very badly—as they have for 47 years—and we hit them hard last night after they launched,” Trump said of Iran when asked about a possible resumption of full-scale hostilities.“I‘ll probably hit them hard again tonight,” Trump told reporters in Ankara, Turkey, on the sidelines of a NATO summit. “I’ll give him a little warning. We’re going to hit him hard tonight, but we’ll see how it all works out.”U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who was also attending the meeting, said that “tonight, if we need to, on your order, Mr. President, we will hit even more and even deeper—because that’s consequences.”The U.S. president made the remarks just hours after he said that the ceasefire was over, following Iran’s attacks on U.S. military sites in the Persian Gulf.“For me, I think it’s over,” Trump responded when asked by reporters in Ankara about the status of the ceasefire, which was extended when the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding last month to give a window for talks on a broader U.S.–Iran peace deal.“It’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” Trump added, just hours after U.S. forces struck Iranian targets.Iranian officials condemned U.S. strikes, saying they violated both the ceasefire and the memorandum of understanding reached last month.US May Reinstate Blockade on IranU.S. Central Command said in a July 7 post on X that its forces launched a series of strikes against Iran “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.”“The U.S. strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” Central Command said. “Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.”In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted 85 key U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait on July 8, while Iran’s state-run news agency stated that Tehran would continue “maintaining restrictions on navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz.Oil tanker HELGA berthed at one of Iraq’s southern offshore oil terminals near Basra as it prepares to load crude oil, becoming the second vessel to arrive since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on April 24, 2026. Mohammed Aty/ReutersTrump also said on July 8 in Ankara that the United States might reinstate the blockade against Iran.“We put down the blockade, we may put it back, the blockade, and it’ll only be a blockade for Iran,” he said.Trump also said that if the United States has to, it will strike Iran’s electric plants and desalination plants.“I don’t want to do that, but if we have to, we’ll take them out,” he said.No Nuclear Weapons for IranTrump also reiterated his determination that Tehran will not have nuclear weapons, emphasizing that the purpose of the war is focused on denuclearization and “not about regime change.”“I’m not happy with them,” Trump said, noting that the United States would hold talks on denuclearization and would appear to make progress before the Iranians would publicly present that no such progress had been made.“For 47 years, they’ve been the bully of the Middle East, and they’re not the bully anymore,” Trump said. “They can’t have a nuclear weapon. That’s what I’m there for.”Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.