ANKARA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The United States may strike Iran again "hard tonight," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters here Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
Trump said Tehran has been "behaving very badly" regarding a recently signed peace memorandum of understanding (MoU), citing recent drone and missile attacks as well as "assaults" on U.S. ships.
The United States could resume a naval blockade against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and possibly take over Iran's Kharg Island, he said.
He added that the United States has lost 200 people during the latest conflict in the Middle East.
Still, Trump suggested that the U.S. negotiation team might continue its efforts.
In response to Trump's remarks, Iran's Press TV, citing an informed source, reported Wednesday that Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz and strike twice as many targets given any fresh U.S. attack.
It reported that Iran will not allow any new route to be established outside its own arrangements of the strait per the MoU, and that Iran "does not differentiate between U.S., regional partners."
The developments came as the United States and Iran traded fresh attacks from Tuesday night to Wednesday, marking a new round of escalation.
On Tuesday, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported that the Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted two tankers attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz via a U.S.-backed Omani route on Monday night after they failed to heed warnings.
Several media reports identified the two vessels as a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker and a Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker. The companies owning the two tankers confirmed later that the crew members aboard their vessels are all safe.
The United States, allegedly in response to the Iranian attacks on those vessels, then launched strikes against 80 Iranian targets, which have reportedly killed eight Iranian army members. Later, the IRGC attacked 85 U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait.
While Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned on Wednesday U.S. "aggressive" attacks earlier in the day against monitoring and surveillance centers in Iran's southern coastal regions, several Gulf states, Lebanon and the Arab League condemned the Iranian attacks and urged restraint from relevant parties.
Separately, Trump said in Ankara that he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, adding that both sides in the Ukraine conflict want a settlement.
He said the United States will send additional defensive weapons to Ukraine, and will grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missiles domestically amid critical shortages of interceptors.
The two-day NATO summit also issued a final declaration, during which NATO member states pledged 80 billion U.S. dollars in military aid for Ukraine this year. ■
