Iran warns of ‘stronger, wider, and more destructive’ attacks after Trump’s address
Iran is responding to President Donald Trump’s prime-time address Wednesday night, during which he said the war will end “shortly” but promised more strikes in the coming weeks.
An Iranian military spokesman responded Thursday, warning of “stronger, wider, and more destructive” attacks against the U.S. and Israel.
Iran’s semi-official Tansim news agency also reported on Thursday that the country’s military says the war will continue until they obtain enemies’ “surrender and permanent regret.”
What Trump said
Trump said on Wednesday night that the war with Iran is almost over, but offered no clear timeline. He said the U.S. is on track to complete its military objectives “shortly,” without giving a specific end date.
He also repeated that negotiations are underway. Iran continues to deny that.
And while Trump said the conflict could wrap in “two or three weeks,” he also made clear more strikes are coming.
“Thanks to the progress we’ve made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly; very shortly,” he said. “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”
Trump added, “If during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously. We have not hit their oil, even though that’s the easiest target of all. Because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding. But we could hit it, and it would be gone. And there’s not a thing they could do about it.”
Iran makes new threats
The White House is also warning of new threats in the region. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad is urging all Americans to leave immediately, saying, “Iran-aligned Iraqi terrorist militias may intend to carry out attacks in central Baghdad within the next 24 to 48 hours.”
And U.S. allies reported fresh Iranian attacks Thursday morning.
The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said it intercepted another 19 ballistic missiles and 26 drones launched from Iran.
The Bahrain Defense Force said in a post on social media its air defenses intercepted two missiles and 10 drones over the past 24 hours.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it downed at least five drones and one ballistic missile since midnight on Wednesday.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X Thursday, it got reports of projectile impacts in northern Israel.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
