Trump threatens retribution after Iran responds to US escalation

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• After weeks of calm, US forces strike Iranian launchers on Larak Island; Tehran retaliates with missiles on Jordan bases, drone over UAE waters • Pezeshkian calls for negotiated end to war • Trump posts AI video of ‘explosion on Kharg Island’ WASHINGTON: US Pres­i­dent Donald Trump on Mon­day threatened to “hit” Iran hard after it launched attacks against US positions in the Middle East in retaliation for American strikes on Larak Island, escalating tensi­ons between the two countries after weeks of relative calm. “We’re going to hit them hard,” Trump said, according to a Fox News reporter who spoke with him. “There will be a response.” The exchange began after US forces struck Iran’s Larak Island, a small Iranian territory near the key port of Bandar Abbas in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media said two people had been killed and several wounded in the US strike, though the semi-official IRNA news agency, citing a local governor, did not clarify whether the casualties were military or civilian. However, American officials said the strike targeted two Iranian launchers after Revolutionary Guard forces were spotted preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the waterway. US Central Command described the action as “limited, precise” and said it was aimed at an “imminent threat” to shipping, without elaborating further. Iran’s response was swift; Tehran said its Revolu­tion­ary Guard had fired ballistic missiles at two US air bases in Jordan, claiming to have inflicted “heavy damage”. Washington has not yet confirmed the damage, but Jordanian authorities said they had intercepted eight missiles over their airspace but did not say where they had come from. Iran also said it had struck the Al Minhad air base in the United Arab Emirates, where US personnel are stationed. Abu Dhabi rejected the claim as false, though it later confirmed its air force had shot down a drone approaching from Iran over its territorial waters. The UAE’s Foreign Ministry condemned the drone incident as a “dangerous escalation” and said the country reserved its right to respond. It called the attack a violation of its sovereignty and security. Tehran’s foreign ministry called the retaliatory strikes on US targets in Jordan “legitimate defence”. Conciliatory note Despite the exchange of fire, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, stru­ck a markedly softer tone on Monday, insisting his government still wanted a negotiated settlement. “We are still trying to achieve an agreement and understanding, and we believe that continuing the war is in no one’s interest, neither ours, nor the region’s, nor humanity’s,” he said, according to the Tasnim news agency, speaking on the sidelines of a regional security summit in Kyrgyzstan during talks with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi. Dialogue, he added, remained the only route away from further instability. Sanctions pressure The renewed clashes come as Washington ramps up economic pressure on Tehran. Speaking at a G20 finance ministers’ meeting in North Carolina, the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, argued that Iran’s military response was born of economic desperation. “They’re taking it very seriously … they’re in shock at the state of their economy,” he told reporters, adding: “I would think that they are lashing out kinetically bec­ause they are losing economically.” Bessent said Wash­ington intended to widen secondary sanctions further, beginning with banks and financial institutions accused of aiding Tehran. In a separate interview with CNBC on Monday, Bessent said the aim of Washington’s sanctions regime was “to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table” for talks. AI-generated Kharg’s destruction Earlier, Trump also sparked controversy after posting an AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform that he claimed showed Iran’s oil hub at Kharg Island being “blown to smithereens”. There was no evidence that Kharg Island had been attacked, and a US official said the military had not targeted the facility. Reuters confirmed using software designed to detect AI-manipulated images that the dramatic explosion footage was most likely synthetically generated. Kharg Island is a key part of Iran’s infrastructure and handled 90pc of the country’s oil exports before the war. Vice President JD Vance said Trump’s post was intended to send a message to Tehran. “The president likes to switch it up on social media a little bit,” Vance said. “He would be the first to say he doesn’t make announcements about military actions on social media, but I think that he’s sending a message to the Iranians.” Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2026

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