US president Donald Trump has insisted he “couldn’t care less” if Iran signs a “worthless” deal to end the war, as both sides launched fresh strikes in the spiralling conflict.
The war saw a dramatic re-escalation as Washington and Tehran traded attacks in the biggest exchange of fire in weeks on Tuesday, with US forces attacking Iran’s southern coast and Iran attacking American bases across the region.
Tehran accused Washington of hitting a wedding in Sirik, killing four people and wounding dozens, before vowing to drive the US from its military installations in the Middle East. The exchange pushed oil up to $97 per barrel - its highest rate since July.
“I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table,” Trump wrote on Truth Social overnight, responding to speculation around his motives after the US resumed attacks this week. “I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement.”
“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing,” the president added. “They are just playing out the inevitable.”
Trump called for the Iranian people to “rise up and fight” as Iran and its Arab neighbours were plunged back into war with another barrage of airstrikes on Tuesday.
The US military claimed strikes along Iran’s southern coast while Iran took aim at American bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq after threatening more devastating attacks.
“Last night was like the end of the world,” Mahmoud, 38, a municipal worker in Sirik County along the strait, told Reuters on Wednesday, describing attacks on the area where Iran said US forces had struck a wedding party.
Iranian media said that as many as 68 people were wounded at the wedding event and released images of children injured in a hospital. The Independent was unable to verify the incident.
Iran responded by striking what it said were American assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, and said its objective was now to oust US forces from its vast array of bases occupied across the region for decades.
“American evil in the region will be met with heavier, more widespread, and devastating responses, and any country that cooperates with the aggressive American army must accept its dangerous consequences,” Iran's military command said.
US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Central Command, said they were aware of reports of an attack on a wedding, noting that they originated from Iranian state media.
“The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,” he said, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Central Command also confirmed that American forces had successfully completed a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets on Tuesday.
“U.S. forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites,” a statement read, adding that they followed IRGC attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members.
Tuesday’s wave of strikes followed an American attack on Iran’s Larak Island overnight into Monday.
Washington said it had struck Iranian launchers firing mines into the Strait of Hormuz in the first exchange of direct attacks in a month, before Iran claimed strikes on two US air bases in Jordan.
The dramatic re-escalation of the conflict, now in its seventh month, pushed oil prices back up to levels unseen since July as hopes of a diplomatic resolution to the conflict faded.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian insisted that the Islamic Republic was ready to sit down for serious talks aimed at ending the war, though the regime is determined to emerge from the conflict stronger with new control over the Strait of Hormuz, billions in blocked funds released and sanctions lifted.
Trump agreed to many of Tehran’s demands in a June deal, but the ceasefire agreement collapsed within weeks over control of the Strait, and no public talks have been held since.
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