US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran “will have to pay the price” for not negotiating a deal with Washington.In a Truth Social post, Trump said Iran has been “defeated” and that much of its military “doesn’t even exist anymore.”“Iran’s military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore. They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!” he wrote.“They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them. Now they will have to pay the price!” he added.This comes after the US launched airstrikes early Wednesday against Iran after blaming Tehran for the crash of an American attack helicopter. Iran fired back at countries in the region — another escalation that threatened to derail efforts to end the war.The exchange of fire was the second such incident this week, after Iran and Israel targeted each other on Monday, testing the ceasefire.While US President Donald Trump has insisted that negotiations with Iran to end the war are making progress, he has repeatedly vacillated between expressing optimism and warning that he is ready to return to all-out war.Speaking to Fox News, Trump reiterated his stance and said he is “close to ordering new strikes on Iranian power plants and bridges.”In the latest strikes, US fighter jets targeted “air defence, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites,” the military’s Central Command said. Iran acknowledged strikes around Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island but gave no details on the damage.“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” Central Command said.Meanwhile, Iran’s top diplomat vowed there would be a response, and Tehran later claimed attacks in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.Since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, the conflict has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices and made many essentials, including food, more expensive. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was trading above $91 a barrel on Wednesday, up more than 25% since the start of the war.
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