The Japan Times - Trump vows fresh Iran strikes after 'playing us for suckers'

Trump's remarks came after the two sides traded fire following the downing of a US helicopter, further straining a ceasefire that took effect in April.

"We hit them hard yesterday. We're going to hit them again hard today," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"We're going to be attacking them -- attacking them very hard."

The United States said it had carried out strikes on Iran on Tuesday retaliation for the shooting down of the Apache chopper. Its two crew members were rescued.

Trump said he could order the targeting of Iranian bridges and power plants, a step he had originally threatened just before the ceasefire but never followed through on.

"I am not going to say that to you. But I can do that," Trump said when asked by an AFP journalist about a Fox News report that he was considering such plans.

Trump appeared to be losing patience with the peace talks with Iran, after weeks of repeatedly saying the two sides were close to a deal.

"We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along, they keep playing us for suckers," Trump said.

"All they have to do is they have to start signing a paper. It's fully negotiated. We have it fully negotiated, but they're tapping and tapping, and I say, 'All right, let's give them a couple of more days.'"

- 'Pay the price' -

Trump had earlier warned in a social media post that Iran has taken too long to negotiate a deal over the conflict in the Middle East and will now "have to pay the price."

"The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

It marked a major contrast with his comments to reporters on Tuesday that negotiations on an enduring settlement to end the war were in their "final throes," and could be wrapped up in "two or three days."

In another social post on Wednesday, Trump praised the US blockade of Iranian shipping calling it "the most successful" in history while labeling it a "steel wall."

He claimed that the blockade had halted Iranian business and prevented it from paying military wages, while still allowing other countries to export "lots of oil."

"Praise be to Allah!" Trump wrote.

In the US strikes late Tuesday, the US Central Command said the US Air Force and Navy had command and control, defense and surveillance stations.

Iran said it had attacked American bases in Jordan and Bahrain on Wednesday.

S.Ogawa--JT