President Donald Trump has threatened further strikes on Iran after the first exchange of direct attacks in a month, raising tensions in a conflict that has recently shifted into an economic standoff.
Iran launched missiles overnight at two S. air bases in Jordan in response to a S. attack on Iran's Larak Island, where Washington said it had struck Iranian launchers firing mines into the Strait of Hormuz.
The exchange highlighted how quickly a conflict that has increasingly been fought through sanctions, blockades, and economic pressure can still spill back into military action.
While neither side appeared to be seeking a return to full-scale war, both signalled they were prepared to respond to further attacks.
"We're going to hit them hard," a Fox News reporter quoted Trump as later telling the channel. "There will be a response."
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office the renewed strikes did not signal a return to full-scale war, describing Iran as a "failed nation" whose economy and military had been severely degraded. "That doesn't mean we won't smack them. We'll see what happens."
Asked whether he had ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran, Trump said there was "no reason" to do so because Iran was already "totally defeated militarily."
A senior Iranian source told Reuters the overnight exchanges of fire were a "limited and contained confrontation" but said Tehran would deliver a harsh response if attacked again.
Trump said S. air defences had downed all Iranian missiles that could have caused any damage and new S. economic sanctions on Iran were having a big impact, Fox News reported.
Washington has recently stepped up efforts to punish Tehran and its business partners with costly secondary sanctions, with diplomacy in stalemate six months into a war that began with S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, echoing Trump, said on Monday the resumed exchanges of fire showed that Iran was "lashing out" now because the new sanctions were taking a heavy toll on its already battered economy. "They're taking it very they're in shock at the state of their economy," Bessent told reporters at a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in North Carolina.
Earlier, Trump had posted to social media an AI-generated video clip showing Iran's oil hub Kharg Island being "blown to smithereens!!!" according to The Economic Times. A S. official said the military had not targeted Kharg Island. Iranian officials called the video "laughable" and likely synthetically generated.