US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Iran with powerful retaliatory strikes, promising to teach Tehran a “harsh lesson” after a recent attack on American troops in Jordan. In an interview with Fox News, he called Iran-backed armed groups “a cancer on the world” and stressed that all operations against them in Iraq are carried out in direct coordination with the Iraqi government. According to Trump, the attack was sudden, leaving American forces only a few minutes to intercept the rockets aimed at them. These remarks marked a new phase of sharply escalating military and political tensions between Washington and Tehran.
On the battlefield, the United States and Saudi Arabia carried out joint airstrikes on Wednesday targeting facilities of Iran-aligned militants in Iraq. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes were “precise” and aimed at “Iran-linked terrorists” whom the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had instructed to attack American forces and Saudi energy infrastructure. The raids involved American and Saudi fighter jets that hit logistics centers and weapons depots in eastern Iraq. CENTCOM described the actions as a “powerful response” to more than 30 drone attacks organized by the IRGC over the past 72 hours. The Iraqi militia “Hashd ash-Shaabi” confirmed the deaths and injuries of its fighters, without specifying the number of casualties.
The escalation is unfolding amid widespread expectations about how exactly Washington will respond to the strike on its forces in Jordan. Trump’s tough rhetoric and joint combat operations with Saudi Arabia signal that the United States is prepared to act decisively, not limiting itself to defensive measures. Experts fear that any major retaliatory action could draw the region into an even larger-scale conflict—especially as Tehran has so far made no official comments on the situation and its allies in Iraq and Yemen remain ready for new attacks.
Full version: سنضرب بقوة.. ترمب يتوعد إيران بـ"درس قاس" بعد هجوم الأردن