Trump says Iran took ‘too long to negotiate a deal, will have to pay the price’

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran took “too long to negotiate a deal” to end the hostilities between Washington and Tehran, warning that Iran “will have to pay the price,” Anadolu reports.

“Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore – They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”

His remarks came after overnight exchanges between Iranian and US forces that came after several days of fluctuating tensions in the region, during which Israel and Iran traded military strikes before pulling back.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said early Wednesday that it launched retaliatory attacks on 21 American military targets at US air and naval bases across the region.

READ: Trump says US ‘must’ respond after alleged Iranian attack on helicopter

In a separate post on Wednesday, Trump stressed the effectiveness of the US naval blockade on Iran, calling it “the most successful Blockade in the history of Naval Warfare.”

“NOTHING GETS THROUGH unless we want it to. IT IS A STEEL WALL! Iran is doing ZERO business, not paying their military, or any of their bills, and quickly becoming a FAILED NATION! Lots of oil is getting out. Praise be to Allah,” Trump said.

On Wednesday, Trump told Fox News that the US is getting close to ordering new strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges in response to “tapping the United States along” when it comes to drawn-out negotiations.

Trump also reportedly shared additional information on the downed attack helicopter, saying that an Iranian drone became lodged between the helicopter’s two pilots as they maneuvered to avoid an explosion.

Saying that the pilots were rescued, for the first time in US military history, by an unmanned sea drone, Trump noted Iranians had tried to rebuild, during the ceasefire, their defensive capabilities.

Asked about a possible response to the Iranian missile fire that targeted US forces in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan overnight, Trump said: “I may keep going… ‘They had a chance to sign a deal and survive.”

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