American cruise missiles and warplanes struck targets across Iran again overnight into Thursday, hours after President Donald Trump vowed to hit the Islamic Republic “hard” for stalling at the negotiating table.The latest wave followed Iran’s downing of an American Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, an incident that drew dozens of Tomahawk missiles in response and pushed a ceasefire Tehran now calls “meaningless” to the edge of collapse.The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the strait closed to all vessels, a claim U.S. Central Command swiftly denied, while Qatari mediators remained in Tehran searching for a diplomatic opening. Trump, for his part, warned he is getting closer to targeting Iran’s power plants and bridges.
“They had a chance to sign a deal and survive,” he said.
In Israel, the renewed bombing is being read as both a vindication and a warning.
“The fact that the president is willing to exercise force is an important message,” Eyal Hulata, who headed Israel’s National Security Council, said in an interview. “The Iranians started believing that they can play for time and continue to increase their demands. That’s not a proper way to have a negotiation with anyone, let alone the Iranians.”
