Donald Trump threatened to hit Iran “hard” after the two foes traded fire for the first time in over a month, while Iran’s president warned that more fighting with the US was not in his country’s interest.
After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran keeping the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed and the US persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iran.
Late Sunday, the United States said it had carried out strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran quickly retaliating by attacking US military targets in the Middle East.
The exchange raised fears of a return to major hostilities, with the US president vowing to respond.
“We’re going to hit them hard,” Trump said, according to a Fox News reporter who spoke to him briefly. “There will be a response.”
Earlier on Monday, Trump had called Iran “a Failed Nation”, saying on social media that its military was decimated, its finances were crumbling “and their leadership is in total disarray and incapable of properly representing the country.”
The United States said it attacked Iranian rocket launchers on the island of Larak to prevent Tehran planting mines in the key shipping lane.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian later on Monday called for dialogue.
“We continue to strive for a path of agreement and understanding, and we believe that continuing the war is neither in our interest, nor in the interest of the region,” he said at a summit in Kyrgyzstan, adding “the solution to the existing problems is dialogue and cooperation.”
State media reported that two people were killed in the US attack on Larak, with several others wounded.