Hormuz Strait: ‘We’re going to hit them hard’, Trump issues fresh threat against Iran
Smoke rises following an Israeli controlled-explosion on the village of Kfartibnit as seen from Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on July 29, 2026. While violence has declined since the signing of a preliminary US-Iran deal in June and the Lebanon-Israel agreement, Lebanon continues to report intermittent Israeli strikes and artillery shelling on the south. Lebanon's army on July 26 condemned ongoing Israeli military activities that it said were preventing its full deployment under the framework deal. (Photo by
US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday 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.
After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran keeping the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed and the US persisting with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports. On Sunday, the United States carried out strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran quickly retaliating by attacking US military targets in the Middle East. The exchange raised fears of a return to major hostilities, with the US 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.” The United States said it attacked Iranian rocket launchers on the island of Larak to prevent Tehran from planting mines in the key shipping lane.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks aimed at Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, saying they targeted US forces there, but President Masoud Pezeshkian later on Monday called for dialogue.
“We continue to strive for a path of agreement and understanding, and we believe that continuing the war is neither in our interest, nor in the interest of the region,” he said at a summit in Kyrgyzstan, adding “the solution to the existing problems is dialogue and cooperation.”
