Trump vows to hit Iran 'hard' as fighting resumes after month-long lull

TEHRAN

A man walks past a wall mural of Iran's slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along a street in downtown of Tehran on Aug. 31, 2026. (AFP)

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Aug. 31 to hit Iran "hard" after the two foes traded fire for the first time in weeks, as his Treasury secretary vowed to keep up a pressure campaign aimed at hobbling Tehran's economy.

The exchange raised fears of a return to major hostilities, with the U.S. president vowing to respond.

"We're going to hit them hard," Trump said, according to a Fox News reporter who spoke to him briefly. "There will be a response."

U.S. Central Command said its Aug. 30 strike was a “limited, precise action” carried out after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing rockets carrying sea mines for deployment in the strait.

Washington said the operation targeted two launchers that posed an imminent threat to commercial shipping.

Iranian state media said two people were killed and several others wounded in the attack.

The Revolutionary Guards said they retaliated with ballistic missiles against technical and maintenance facilities and fighter aircraft positions at the King Hussein and Al-Azraq air bases in Jordan. Tehran claimed the strikes caused heavy damage.

Jordan’s military said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed eight missiles before they posed a threat to people or property. A U.S. official said no American base was hit and there were no casualties.

Iran’s military also claimed that drones struck Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE. The Emirati Defense Ministry rejected the claim, saying it had intercepted one Iranian drone over the country’s territorial waters and that the base had not been targeted.

The Revolutionary Guards separately said they had shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Washington did not immediately confirm the claim.

The renewed fighting followed weeks in which the United States had stepped up economic pressure on Tehran while seeking to restore shipping through the strait.

Trump did not rule out further military action but said any renewed strikes would remain limited.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, said Tehran did not seek war but would respond firmly to any attack. He said continued conflict served neither Iran nor the wider region.

Earlier on Aug. 31, Trump had called Iran "a Failed Nation", saying on social media that its military was decimated, its finances were crumbling "and their leadership is in total disarray".

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowed to keep up the economic pain.

"We are going to continue exerting pressure, and we've had very good discussions here already," Bessent told reporters at a G20 meeting in North Carolina.

He said a turning point in the pressure campaign could come "within weeks or months".

Iran is exerting economic pressure of its own through its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which has roiled global markets and driven up prices for American voters in a closely fought midterm election year.

One-fifth of the world's oil passed through the strait before the war.