Trump Warns Iran Will Have 'Very Little Left' After New US Strikes Near Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump announced that American forces were, in his words, hitting Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz "as we speak," calling the attacks "large and powerful." The statement came on 1 September and marked a sharp escalation in a confrontation around one of the world's most important shipping routes.

Trump said the strikes answered two things: what he described as a failed Iranian attempt to lay sea mines in the Strait, and eight missiles allegedly fired at a US military base in Jordan. He said all eight missiles had been "successfully knocked down." He also claimed the Strait now has "no mines," saying those that had been placed were "completely removed or detonated."

The sequence of events runs back to 30 August. US officials described an earlier action against alleged Iranian mine-laying forces as a "limited, precise action." According to a US official quoted by Axios, that action targeted two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island. Reporting describes it as the first US strike on Iranian territory since late July.

The missile episode followed. Iranian state television showed what it said were ballistic missiles being fired toward US bases in Jordan. Jordan's armed forces said eight missiles entering its airspace early on Monday were intercepted. The Jordanian account and Trump's claim line up on the number eight, though the source does not detail who carried out the interceptions.

Trump paired the announcement with a warning. "If the failed nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level," he said, adding that even that would not be "the biggest attack of them all," which he said was "waiting in the wings." His conclusion: when it was over, there would be "very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

He repeated the theme in a later interview with Fox News, saying: "We're going to hit them hard. There will be a response." He called Iran's leadership "violent" and "evil" and raised the nuclear question, saying that if Iran had a nuclear weapon, "Israel would be gone," and that if he were not president, Israel would be gone and there would probably be no Middle East.

Markets reacted. Oil prices rose by around three per cent after the earlier strikes, a reminder of what the Strait of Hormuz means for energy supply.

In Tehran, a new anti-US billboard featuring Trump appeared outside a train station in the south of the city, spotted on 1 September. Its slogan reads "Great Victory, Strait of Hormuz," and it surfaced just after the Larak Island strikes of 30 August.

What to watch now is whether Iran answers the latest strikes. Trump has said any retaliation will bring a heavier response, and oil prices will likely register the next move.